LTMARTO F CONGRES S. l\ 
Runited:states of-america.! 



LIFE 



Emanuel Swedenborg. 



TOGETHER WITH 



A BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF HIS WRITINGS, BOTH PHILO- 
SOPHICAL AND THEOLOGICAL. 

By WILLIAM WHITE. 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION 

By B. F. BARRETT. 




FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. 



PHILADELPHIA 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 

1866. 



*fc 



Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 



PKEFACE. 



During the few past years many biographies of Swedenborg 
have been offered to the public. Dr. Tafel, of Tubingen, in 
1839, collected into one volume the testimonies of Swedenborg' s 
personal friends, his letters, and various documents relating to 
him which were scattered through many volumes. This "Book 
of Documents" was translated into English, and edited by the 
Rev. J. H. Smithson, of Manchester, in 1841 ; and was again 
reprinted in America and re-edited by Professor Bush, of New 
York, in 1847. From this "Book of Documents," all the biog- 
raphies which have appeared, have been more or less indebted. 
Nathanael Hobart, of Boston, arranged these documents into 
a connected biographical form, interspersed with judicious re- 
marks of his own, and published it as a "Life of Swedenborg." 
This "Life" has passed through three editions, and well de- 
serves the success it has attained. In 1849, Elihu Rich pub- 
lished, in London, "A Biographical Sketch of Emanuel Swe- 
denborg." The edition was exhausted in the course of a few 
months, and the work has not since been reprinted. In the 
same year, J. J. Gr. Wilkinson produced his "Emanuel Sweden- 
borg : a Biography," a work which, alike for its artistic 
excellence as a biography, and the originality and poetic beauty 



of its thought, has, I believe, no equal in the English language. 
The comparative silence of our literary critics, in reference to 
this work, proves that any one who cares to appreciate what is 
best in the world, had better not be content to trust solely to 
their eyes. From the quotations I have made in the course of 
the following narrative, the reader will be able to appreciate a 
few of the good things contained in this Biography by Wilkin- 
son. In 1854, Edwin Paxton Hood published "Swedenborg: 
A Biography and an Exposition," a work which has been the 
means of introducing Swedenborg to a large circle hitherto 
almost ignorant of his existence. In the same year, Woodbury 
M. Fernald published, in Boston, Mass., "A Compendium of 
the Theological and Spiritual Writings of Swedenborg," to 
which an excellent life of the Author was prefixed, compiled in 
great part from previous biographies. In other forms, many 
sketches of the life of Swedenborg have been published. The 
Rev. 0. P* Hiller gives an excellent little biography in his vol- 
ume of ' ' Grems from Swedenborg. ' ' Emerson tells the story 
of his life, in his own way, in " Representative Men;" and a 
Lecture by G-eorge Dawson, on Swedenborg, is now circulating, 
as a tract, by thousands throughout the land. All these things 
evidence a growing interest in the greatest teacher of modern 
times. 

The present work does not enter into competition with any- 
thing that has before been written.^ It pretends to nothing but 
simplicity, and would be ranked as a hand-book, a guide, a 
directory. If it should lead any to form an acquaintance with 
the writings of "the most unJcnown man in the world," as Mr. 
Fernald calls Swedenborg, and I may add, the most abused man 
in the world, my end will be gained. I believe the day is not 
far distant when it will be the greatest reproach of these times 



PREFACE. 5 

that the works of Swcdenborg lay in our midst, and only a few 
men cared for them. Happily this number is steadily increasing ; 
and, by and by, we may expect a general acknowledgment of 
the fact, that Swedenborg was, without exception, the most 
gifted and extraordinary man that has ever lived. 
36 Bloomsbuky' Street, London, January, 1856. 
1 * 



INTKODUCTION. 



It is difficult to paint in language the grandest scenes in nature. 
To him who essays it, words seem powerless and wholly unequal 
to the task of conveying an adequate description. Any one who 
has stood by the side of Niagara, and listened to its deafening 
roar, and felt the grandeur and inspiration of the scene, is never 
quite satisfied with any written or oral description of that mighty 
cataract. And the reason is plain. It is not in the power of 
language, however skilfully employed, to kindle such emotions in 
the soul as are awakened by the scene itself. 

The case is similar in regard to all great geniuses, and espe- 
cially great authors. It is not easy to describe the loftiest human 
souls, or adequately to paint their characters in words. And 
those who are most familiar with their writings, are usually least 
satisfied with their biographies however vigorously or gracefully 
written. It is with the most gifted thinkers and writers as with 
the great Author of the volume of nature ; they are best seen 
and understood in their works. And in any biographies wherein 
it is attempted to show us such men apart from, or outside of, 
their writings, it can hardly be otherwise than that they should 
appear considerably dwarfed. We miss those grand and sym- 
metrical features which reveal themselves on every page of their 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

works, but are to be truly seen no where else. Doubtless it is 
for this reason, in part, that no Life of Swedenborg which has 
yet appeared, has been entirely satisfactory to those best ac- 
quainted with his writings. And for the same reason we doubt 
if such a Life of him ever will appear. 

The present volume, though not in all respects what we wish 
it were, possesses, nevertheless, some estimable features, which 
cannot fail to recommend it to the general reader. Among these 
are its truthfulness, its brevity, its simplicity, and its generally 
faithful though brief synopsis of the voluminous writings of the 
great Seer. In introducing it to the American public, we can- 
not but cherish the hope that it may be the means of disabusing 
the popular mind of many errors and prejudices in regard to one 
of the greatest and best of men, and of exciting increased in- 
quiry concerning writings of which the great mass of our people 
are almost totally ignorant, but which, every year, are attracting 
more and more the attention of thoughtful and serious minds. 
There are no writings with which we are acquainted, which will 
so richly repay the earnest seeker after truth for a thorough and 
careful study, as the writings of Swedenborg ; none that solve 
so many difficult and perplexing problems ; none that appeal so 
powerfully to the understanding and the heart of every sincere 
and rational inquirer ; none that are so sure to resolve the doubts 
of every honest doubter ; none that shed such a blaze of light 
upon the Sacred Page, as well as upon "our being's end and 
aim;" none that bring Scripture, and reason, and science, and 
the accepted laws of the human soul, into such beautiful and 
perfect harmony. We say this with confidence, after a thorough 
study of these writings, and a pretty careful reading of all the 
reigning systems of theology. 

But lest our opinion of this man and his writings should be 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

deemed somewhat partial, and therefore not deserving of full 
credit, we introduce here the testimony of a few witnesses who 
cannot be suspected of any such partiality — of men who never 
reckoned themselves as Swedenborgians, and were never in any 
way identified with the Church of the New Jerusalem. 

"It has been said by some, and received implicitly without 
further examination by others, that Baron Swedenborg, after 
receiving his extraordinary commission, was mad, and became 
totally deprived of his natural senses ; but this insinuation is 
such a palpable contradiction to truth, and such an insult to 
common sense, being overruled by every page of his writings, as 
well as by every act of his life after that period, that we should 
have thought it altogether unworthy of notice were we not aware 
that it operates powerfully with many, even at this day, to pre- 
judice them against a character which otherwise they would 
revere, and against writings from which they would otherwise 
receive the most welcome instruction, whilst, in the meantime, 
they can give no reasonable account of their prejudice, nor trace 
its origin to any better source than the unjust calumny uttered 
of old against another respectable name — ' Paul, thou art beside 
thyself; much learning doth make thee mad. ' ' ' (Acts xxvi. 24. ) — 
Dr. Hurd's History of the Rites and Ceremonies of all Nations, 
p. 705. 

' ' I fully concede indeed to Swedenborg what is usually denied 
him, namely, an extreme sobriety of mind displayed under all 
the exceptional circumstances of his career, and which ends by 
making us feel at last his every word to be almost insipid with 
veracity. I cordially appreciate moreover the rare destitution 
of wilfulness which characterizes all his researches ; or rather 
the child-like docility of spirit which leads him to seek and to 
A * 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

recognize, under all the most contradictory aspects of nature, 
the footsteps of the Highest. . . . His books are a dry unim- 
passioned unexaggerated exposition of the things he daily saw 
and heard in the world of spirits, and of the spiritual laws 
which these things illustrate ; with scarcely any effort whatever 
to blink the obvious outrage his experiences offer to sensuous 
prejudice, or to conciliate any interest in his reader which is not 
prompted by the latter' s own original and unaffected relish of 
the truth. Such sincere books it seems to me were never before 
written. He grasped with clear intellectual vision tbe seminal 
principles of things, and hence is never tempted to that dreary 
Socratic ratiocination about their shifting superficial appearances, 
which give great talkers a repute for knowledge." — Substance 
and Shadow. By Henry James, pp. 103, 104. 

"What appears as Swedenborg's crudities and fantasies, how- 
ever, are extraneous to his essential system, which has a unity 
of its own, and an organic connection with Christianity, such as 
avouches itself the genuine developement of the Christian sys- 
tem. His cosmology, his theology, and his pneumatology are 
the Christian revelation breaking into more full and rational 
light from the seals of the letter which had kept and preserved 
it." (Eev. E. H. Sears, in the Monthly Religious Magazine for 
March, 1865, p. 147.) 

And the same writer, speaking of one of Swedenborg's works, 
in which the "Doctrine of Degrees" is treated of, and whose 
philosophy, he says, ' ' the reader does not at first get the pith 
of," adds: "But when he does get it, he sees the amazing 
sweep of the principle set forth, and its constructive power in 
theology, and that by missing it every school of materialism has 
stuck fast to the earth, — Pantheism, babbling of sacred names 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

that mean nothing, the Church glooming among the sepulchres, 
and modern Spiritualism offering us a future world of sublimated 
matter ; he sees, too, that without the key which this principle 
offers, they will never get out of that prison-house, but knock 
their heads eternally against the bars." — Foregleams of Immor- 
tality. By Edmund H. Sears. Note to p. 41. 

" It is said that Swedenborg was a Fanatic. What then is a 
Fanatic ? One of the profoundest mathematicians of his age ; 
a deep and acute thinker ; a subtle logician ; a various and ver- 
satile scholar ; above all, a calm and most quiet bookman and 
penman, indisposed for every company, and never seen to court 
the company of the ignorant and the vulgar [who are] ever the 
resort of the fanatic ; a man of few words, until compelled to 
talk, or talking for a purpose; cool in temperament; never 
rocked by passion or impulse ; always, as far as humanity can 
be, in equilibrium, weighing all his thoughts and all his actions ; 
perpetually bent upon giving reasons for things ; a man of 
strong inductive habits and powers, and consistent; a whole 
life of invariable rectitude, and doctrines, and principles, ever 
above the hour ; and ever, from the period of his illumination, 
the same. — Is this the portrait of a Fanatic? .... He was a 
Titan, and must take his place among the very highest and 
widest minds of our world ; his was truly a Norse intellect ; he 
belonged to the wonderful race of Sea-kings ; he was one of the 
children of Odin, and we know that race — the writers and inter- 
preters of the runes — the utterers of the rythmic charm." 
{Swedenborg ; a Biography and an Exposition. By Edwin 
PaxtonHood, {Episcopalian,) pp. 169, 170.) 

"I have often thought of writing a work to be entitled, a 
Vindication of Great Men unjustly branded, and at such times, 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

the names prominent to my mind's eye have been GKordano 
Bruno, Jacob Behmen, Benedict Spinoza, and Emanuel Swe- 
denborg. I remember nothing in Lord Bacon superior, few 
passages equal, either in depth of thought, or in richness, dig- 
nity and felicity of diction, or in the weightiness of the truths 
contained in these articles. I can venture to assert, that, as a 
Moralist, Swedenborg is above all praise; and that, as a Natu- 
ralist, Psychologist, and Theologian, he has strong and varied 
claims on the gratitude and admiration of the professional and 
philosophical faculties." — Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Liter- 
ary Remains, Vol. IV. 423. 

"His [Swedenborg's] writings would be a sufficient library 
to a lonely and athletic student. Not every man can read them, 
but they will reward him who can. The grandeur of the topics 
makes the grandeur of the style. One of the missourians and 
mastodons of literature, he is not to be measured by whole col- 
leges of ordinary scholars. No one man is perhaps able to 
judge of the merits of his works on so many subjects. It 
seems that he anticipated much science of the nineteenth cen- 
tury; anticipated in astronomy the discovery of the seventh 
planet ; anticipated the views of modern astronomy in regard 
to the generation of earths by the sun ; in chemistry, the atomic 
theory ; in anatomy, the discoveries of Schlieuting, Monro, and 
Wilson ; and first demonstrated the office of the lungs. Swe- 
denborg styles himself, in the title-page of his books, " Servant 
of the Lord Jesus Christ:" and by force of intellect, and in 
effect, he is the last Father in the Church, and is not likely to 
have a successor. No wonder that his depth of ethical wisdom 
should give him influence as a teacher. To the withered tradi 
tional church yielding dry catechisms, he let in nature again, 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

and the worshipper, escaping from the vesting of verbs and 
texts, is surprised to find himself a party to the whole of his 
religion. His religion thinks for him, and is of universal appli- 
cation. He turns it on every side ; it fits every part of life, 
interprets and dignifies every circumstance. Instead of a re- 
ligion which visited him diplomatically three or four times, — 
when he was born, when he married, when he felt sick, and 
when he died, and for the rest never interfered with him, — here 
was a teaching which accompanied him all day, accompanied 
him even into sleep and dreams ; into his thinking, and showed 
him through what a long ancestry his thoughts descend ; into 
society, and showed by what affinities he was girt to his equals 
and his counterparts; into natural objects, and showed their 
origin and meaning, what are friendly and what are hurtful ; 
and opened the future world, by indicating the continuity or 
the same laws. His disciples allege that their intellect is invig- 
orated by the study of his books." — Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

" Swedenborg was not a man to be carried away by an un- 
bridled imagination ; still less did he ever manifest, during his 
whole life, the slightest symptom of mental aberration. . . . 
On the other hand, he was in life and disposition so blameless, 
that no man dare even intimate any suspicion of concerted de- 
ception ; and posterity have no right to call into question the 
unsuspected testimony of those who lived in the same age as 
Swedenborg, and who knew him well. If this mode of judg- 
ment be permitted, all historical evidence, even the holiest and 
most venerable might be reduced to nothing. ... If it be per- 
mitted to say of a man, to whose veracity, intelligence, science, 
irreproachable conduct, presence of mind, and fidelity to truth, 
his contemporaries bear testimony — if it be permitted for pos- 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

terity to say that such a man had either imprudently deceived 
himself and the world, or had knowingly dealt in mere falsehood 
and lies, there is an end to the verification of historical events. 
. . . He was guided in his researches by a mind clear, acutely 
analytic, endowed with skill, and well disciplined in mathematics 
and logic. He endeavored to raise the mind to that height from 
which the first created germ, acted upon by the creative spirit 
and power, might be contemplated, and from which the first 
buds (or principles) of things might be seen growing from the 
impulsive force which G-od has implanted in their nature. . . . 
Throughout the entire course of his learned researches and ac- 
tivity, we every where discover the pious and religious man, 
who, in all his sayings and doings, was intent upon good. In 
his inmost soul, he was entirely opposed to all those systems of 
materialism and naturalism which so wantonly prevailed in his 
time ; and he built his own system on the foundation of an 
Eternal Esse, and on its creating activities, (from which, as from 
the only origin and cause, all things are created and preserved). 
And, throughout the entire course of his labors, he seizes every 
opportunity of pointing to this first great rational Cause of all 
things, and, at the same time, he endeavors to show the absurd- 
ity of all opposite opinions. Nor did the sensualism of those of 
his contemporaries which confines itself to the mere surface of 
things, nor did the more refined Pantheistic abstraction of oth- 
ers, although penetrating more deeply below the surface, find 
any place in his system and works. There no where appears in 
the writings of Swedenborg a self-destroying contradiction, 
nothing abrupt, disjointed, or unconnected, or arbitrary, or illog- 
ical, such as is accustomed to accompany the phenomena of 
dreams, or the effusions of an unregulated fancy ; but every 
thing that he writes is so connected and uninterrupted, as to 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

present a perfect whole. — Kev. Professor Yon Gcebres, 
{Roman Catholic,) u O)i Swedenborg and his Views." 

"Emanuel Swedenborg occupies a prominent position 
among the master minds of humanity. ... It is not our pro j 
vince or purpose to decide the question of his Seership, but we 
may be permitted to remark that to all impartial and reflecting 
minds- his historical appearance presents a problem that still 
awaits solution. The smile of incredulity begins to die upon the 
lips of the conscientious sceptic, and the opprobrious terms — s 
dreamer and madman — are yielding to the more courteous epithet 
— mystic. In vain will you ransack the archives of his family or 
personal history for a trace of insanity. Equally fruitless will be 
your endeavor to trace any symptoms of incoherence or raving 
in his methodical pages. If he must needs be mad, there is a 
rare method in his madness; and if the world insists on his being 
a visionary it must admit that his visions are something anoma^ 
lous, in their systematic and mathematical form. But we have 
yet to learn that visionaries and dreamers can write a cool busi- 
ness-like style, and pen dry and well-digested folios. Nor is it a 
common thing to find a madman deficient in the sallies of the 
imagination, and remarkable for strong common sense. Such is 
the problem and anomaly presented by this remarkable man, 
whose gift of Seership is attested by such characters as 
Kant and the sister of the great Frederick. . . . Sweden- 
borg' s philosophy, as developed in his scientific as well as the- 
ological works, may be characterized as a very decided system 
of empirical realism, distinguished for an almost diophanic 
introvision into the human heart for consummate simplicity and 
consistency. He regards the science of Correspondence as the 
key of knowledge — a divine philosophy, unlocking the treasures 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

of the spiritual as well as the natural worlds, and sending 
thought at a bound from the zoophite to the Seraphim. The 
material world is the ultimate and pedestal of the universe, 
filled with various collations corresponding to others in the higher 
ascending spheres of the universe. Thus nature is, in truth, a 
revelation, and a divine book, whose letters the groves, hills, and 
rivers, the firmament and the lamps of heaven, are hieroglyphic 
representatives of corresponding spiritual realities. . . . It is 
refreshing, in the eleventh hour of the eighteenth century — the 
age of Atheism, Libertinism, Freemasonry, and Rosicrusianism, 
to meet a man who united a healthy, plain, and practical view of 
life, man, and nature, with the sublimest, and at the same time 
the most scientific, handling and treatment of things, spiritual 
and eternal. In the eyes of a discriminating posterity, Emanuel 
Swedenborg will obtain an elevated rank in the illustrious brother- 
hood of the luminaries of the Church. ' ' — Tennemann's Manual 
of the History of Philosophy. 

Such is the testimony in regard to this man and his writings, 
offered by independent and serious minds, who cannot be sus- 
pected of any undue bias in his favor. Not one of these wit- 
nesses was ever identified with what is popularly known as the 
New Church, whereof Swedenborg is held to be the divinely 
appointed herald. Let the candid reader ask himself, What 
conceivable motive could have induced them to extol unduly the 
virtues of this man, or to overestimate the wisdom and worth of 
his writings. B. F. B. 

Philadelphia, February 12th, 1866. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Birth and Parentage. Swedenborg's First Ideas of Religion, and 

his Scholastic Life 21 

CHAPTER II. 

Travels, Becomes Author, and is crossed in Love 26 

CHAPTER III. 

Travels again. Publishes five Scientific Pamphlets, and "Miscella-' 
neous Observations." Returns Home and enters on the Du- 
ties of his Assessorship. Writes his " Opera Philosophica et 
Mineralia," and goes abroad to publish it 35 

CHAPTER IV. 
"Opera Philosophica et Mineralia," 40 

CHAPTER V. 
Doings and Travels 47 

CHAPTER VI. 

"The Economy of the Animal Kingdom," and "The Animal King- 
dom," 51 

CHAPTER VII. 
His Life, as a Man of Science, ends 57 

CHAPTER VIII. 

His Spiritual Sight opened, and the Conditions of his Seership 62 

2* 17 



18 • CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IX. 

PAGE 

Prepares for his New Office. Resigns his Assessorship. His "Ad- 
versaria." His " Spiritual Diary." The death of Polheim 73 

CHAPTER X. 
"The Arcana Coelestia." 78 

CHAPTER XI. 



CHAPTER XII. 
" The Last Judgment." '..' 95 

CHAPTER XIII. 
"Heaven and Hell." 102 

CHAPTER XIV. 

" The White Horse." " The Earths in the Universe." " The New 
Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine." 130 



CHAPTER XV. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
"Doctrine of the Lord; The Sacred Scripture; Faith; and Life" 142 

CHAPTER XVII. 

" The Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom." " The Continuation 

of the last Judgment." 151 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
"Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Providence." 159 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Life in Amsterdam. Character of the Dutch. Meets Dr. Beyer. 
Republishes his "New Method of Finding the Longitudes." 
"The Apocalypse explained." 169 



CONTENTS. 19 

CHAPTER XX. 

PAGE 

"Apocalypse Revealed." 173 

CHAPTER XXI. 
Travels. Habits. Anecdotes 180 

CHAPTER XXII. 
"Conjugial Love." 191 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Attacked by Dr. Eckebom. Visits France. Letter to Hartley, and 

Hartley's opinion of Swedenborg 204 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

" Brief Exposition of the Doctrines of the New Church/' and the 

"Intercourse between the Soul and the Body." 210 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Persecution. Letter to the Academy of Sciences. Leaves Stock- 
holm for the last time 219 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Swedenborg in Intercourse with General Tuxen and Paulus ab Inda- 
gine. His reply to Dr. Ernesti. Letter to the Landgrave of Hesse 
Darmstadt 227 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
"The True Christian Religion." 236 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 
Anecdotes and Traits of Character 256 

CHAPTER XXIX. 
Last Days on Earth 262 

CHAPTER XXX. 
of the New Church 267 



LIFE AND WRITINGS 

OF 

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 



CHAPTER I. 



His Birth and Parentage — Sis first ideas of Religion, and his 
Scholastic Idfe. 

Authors are never wiser than when they trust to time 
for justice. The poor thinker, neglected by his age, unseen 
amid the glare of mere show and pageantry, need not fret 
himself. Time will roll on, the false and meretricious will 
sink into forgetfulness, while his true words will become 
accepted, and his thoughts the stars by which wise men 
guide their course across the dark ocean of life. 

It was the lot of Emanuel Swedenborg to be cast on a 
shallow, sceptical, and perverse age. Living a life of the 
utmost purity, and teaching truths which we esteem it our 
great felicity to know, he had but poor thanks so far as 
fame and disciples went. But the dawn of his day of 
justice is approaching. His name, which in past times has 
too often been used to point a sarcasm at whatever is 
visionary and transcendental, has of late years been slowly 
rising into estimation. Here and there, one eminent man 
after another has spoken some brave words in honor and 



22 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

admiration of the great SAvede. Slowly, but surely, his 
writings are claiming attention; his disciples, though still 
few, are quietly earnest and enthusiastic, and ever and anon 
there is seen in the newspaper or periodical, the name of 
Swedenborg mentioned with respect, if not with reverence. 
Considerable curiosity exists in large circles to know more 
of him, of what he did, what were his doctrines, and the 
nature and number of his books. To satisfy, in some 
measure, these queries and if possible to incite a desire 
for an intimate personal acquaintance with the writings of 
Swedenborg, is the purpose of the present work. 

Emanuel Swedenborg was born at Stockholm, on the 29th 
Jan., 1688. The year is a memorable one, as being that 
in which outraged England drove the faithless Stuarts from 
the throne. His father's name was Jesper Swedberg, and 
his mother's, Sarah Behm ; both descended from families of 
worth and usefulness in Sweden. His father, at the time of 
his birth, was chaplain to a regiment of cavalry. After 
passing through several offices, one of which was a professor- 
ship of theology in the University of Upsal, Jesper Swed- 
berg was, in the year 1719, elevated to the bishoprick of 
Skara in West Gothland. His character stood high in 
Sweden. Simple, patriotic, and honest, he was, without 
being brilliant, a learned and industrious man. He wrot< 
much, and published occasionally, as the following extract 
from his diary proves : " I can scarcely believe that any- 
body in Sweden has written so much as I have done ; since, 
I think, ten carts could scarcely carry away what I have 
written and printed at my own expense, and yet there is 
much, yea nearly as much, not printed." Of the professions 
of his sons, he wisely remarks ; " I have kept my sons to that 
profession to which God has given them inclination and 
liking: I have not brought up one to the clerical office, 
although many parents do this inconsiderately, and in a 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 23 

manner not justifiable, by which the Christian Church and 
the clerical order suffer not a little, and are brought into 
contempt." Writing in his diary forty years after Eman- 
uel's birth, he says : " Emanuel, my son's name, signifies 
' God with us,' a name which should constantly remind him 
of the nearness of God, and of that interior, holy, and 
mysterious connection, in which, through faith, we stand 
with our good and gracious God. And blessed be the Lord's 
name ! God has, to this hour, been with him ; and may God 
be further with him, until he is eternally united with Him in 
his kingdom." 

Of Swedenborg's childhood we have little record. In a 
letter which, late in life, he addressed to Dr. Beyer, he 
remarks ; " "With regard to what passed in the earliest part 
of my life, about which you wish to be informed : from my 
fourth to my tenth year, my thoughts were constantly 
engrossed by reflections on God, on salvation, and on the 
spiritual affections of man. I often revealed things in my 
discourse which filled my parents with astonishment, and 
made them declare at times, that certainly the angels spoke 
through my mouth. From my sixth to my twelfth year, it 
was my greatest delight to converse with the clergy concern- 
ing faith ; to whom I often observed, that charity or love is 
the life of faith ; and that this vivifying charity or love is no 
other than the love of one's neighbor ; that God vouchsafes 
this faith to every one ; but that it is adopted by those only 
who practise that charity. I knew of no other faith or 
belief at that time, than that God is the Creator and Pre- 
server of Nature ; that He endues men with understanding, 
good inclinations, and other gifts derived from these. I 
knew nothing at that time of the systematic or dogmatic 
kind of faith, that God the Father imputes the righteousness 
or merits of the Son to whomsoever, and at whatever time, 
He wills, even to the impenitent. And had I heard of such 



24 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

a faith, it would have been then, as now, perfectly unintelli- 
gible to me." 

This confession very vividly shadows forth the future 
man. We see how earnestly his sound, practical mind 
perceived and clung to the real and substantial in theology. 
His experience of the doctrine of justification by faith alone, 
finds parallels in the lives and experience of many eminent 
men. It was not until after many years' preaching, that 
the fact of the existence of such a doctrine was presented to 
the mind of Dr. Chalmers, to whom also it was quite unin- 
telligible; yet, overcome by the sphere of learning and 
prestige with which the doctrine was environed, Chalmers 
yielded assent to it, and fancied, as thousands do, he believed 
what by no possibility he could ever understand. Sweden- 
borg was too single-eyed in his pursuit of truth to be led 
aside by authority, however imposing; and often, in the 
following narrative, we shall have to observe with what 
independence, yet with what humility and simplicity, he 
recorded the truths which it was his mission to reveal. 

This excellent son of good Bishop Swedberg received the 
best education that the times and his country could afford. 
In his twenty-second year, at the University of Upsal, he 
took his degree of Doctor in philosophy. The dissertation 
which he wrote for his degree was afterwards published. It 
consisted of a selection of sentences from Seneca, Publius 
Syrus Mimus, and other Latin writers, enriched by com- 
ments of his own, and notes illustrating the obscurities of 
the Latin text. This work was so highly thought of, as to 
occasion a poetic eulogy, written in Greek, to be inscribed 
to its author. Swedenborg dedicated this, his first literary 
production, to his father, in a prelude full of veneration and 
love. Its length alone prevents our gratifying the reader 
with the perusal of this beautiful tribute of filial affection. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 25 

Among his many virtues, it should not be accounted the 
least, that Swedenborg was a loving, dutiful son. 

The same year he published, in a work of his father's, a 
Latin version of the twelfth chapter of Ecclesiastes, which 
proved, in a high degree, his mastery of the Latin language. 

In 1710, was finished the strictly scholastic period of 
Swedenborg's life. He had now reached manhood, and 
must live as a man among men. His youth manifests less 
precocity than solid and regular development of mind. The 
record of his life at this time, evidences a common-sense 
appreciation of life and its duties, an honest love of virtue, 
and a desire to be useful in his day and generation. The 
sequel will show that his day of life was not unworthy of 
its dawn. 



26 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



CHAPTER II. 
Travels — Becomes A.uthor — Is crossed in IJove* 

Having completed his university education, Swedenborg 
entered on his travels. In his journal, he thus briefly de- 
scribes a four years' absence from Sweden. 

"In the year 1710 I set out for Gottenburg, that I might 
be conveyed, by ship, thence to London. On the voyage, 
my life was in danger four times : first on some shoals, to- 
ward which we were driven by a storm, until we were within 
a quarter of a mile from the raging breakers, and we thought 
we should all perish. Afterwards we narrowly escaped some 
Danish pirates under French colors ; and the next evening 
we were fired into from a British ship, which mistook us for 
the same pirates, but without much damage. Lastly, in 
London itself, I was exposed to a more serious danger. 
While we were entering the harbor, some of our country- 
men came to us in a boat, and persuaded me to go with them 
into the city. Now it was known in London that an epi- 
demic was raging in Sweden, and therefore all who arrived 
from Sweden were forbidden to leave their ships for six 
weeks, or forty days ; so I, having transgressed this law, was 
very near being hanged, and was only freed under the con- 
dition that, if any one attempted the same thing again, he 
should not escape the gallows. 

" At London and Oxford I tarried about a year. Then I 
went to Holland and saw its chief cities. At Utrecht I tar- 
ried a long time, while Congress was sitting and ambassadors 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 27 

were gathering there from nearly all the courts of Europe. 
Thence I went into France, and passed through Brussels 
and Valenciennes to Paris. Here and at Versailles I spent 
a year. At the end of this time I hastened, by public coach, 
to Hamburg, and thence to Pomerania and Greifswalde, 
where I remained some time, while Charles the Twelfth was 
coming from Bender to Stralsund. When the siege began, 
I departed in a small vessel, together with a lady named 
Feif, and by Divine Providence was restored to my own 
country after more than four years' absence." 

While traveling he was not idle ; for we find that in 1715, 
while at Greifswalde, he published an oration on the return 
of Charles XII. from Turkey, and a small volume of Latin 
prose fables. On his return to Sweden, he issued, at Skara, 
a little book of poems, written for the most part during his 
journeyings. These have been republished at various times; 
but, as poems, much cannot be said of them. Wilkinson, in 
his " Biography of Swedenborg," remarks : " These poems 
display fancy, but a controlled imagination. If we may 
convey to the English reader such a notion of Latin verses, 
they remind one of the Pope school, in which there is gen- 
erally some theme, or moral, governing the flights of the 
Muse." Indeed, it was well that Swedenborg was but slightly 
endowed with the poetic faculty. Much of his future mis- 
sion lay in fields which require the coolest and calmest of 
minds to describe ; the sight and contemplation of which, 
would have sent a Shaksperian or Byronic temperament into 
extatic frenzies. 

Swedenborg, himself the son of a bishop, was connected 
with high and influential families in Sweden. One of his 
sisters was married to Eric Benzelius, afterwards Archbishop 
of Upsal ; and another to Lars Benzelstierna, governor of a 
province. Other members of the family held high and re- 
sponsible offices in the kingdom. A young man thus situated 



iio LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

would find little difficulty in settling for life in a sphere of 
usefulness adapted to all his tastes. While on his travels on 
the Continent he wrote letters to Eric Benzelius, detailing 
every novelty in mathematics, astronomy, and mechanics, 
which came under his observation; besides sending home 
models of all such inventions as he thought might be useful 
to his country. These letters and services won for him con- 
siderable notice ; and on his return to Sweden, he assumed 
the editorship of a new periodical work, entitled " Daedalus 
Hyperboreus." Among the contributors to this magazine, 
was the celebrated mathematician, Christopher Polheim, who 
has been called the Swedish Archimedes. Swedenborg's con- 
nection with Polheim seems to have led to his appointment 
to the office of Assessor of the Board of Mines, which he 
held with distinguished honor for many years. 

In the year 1716, Polheim invited him to go with him 
to Lund, on a visit to Charles XII., who had just escaped 
from Stralsund. He was very kindly received by the King, 
and obtained from him his official appointment as Assessor. 
He was to assist Polheim in-his undertakings, to have a seat 
in the College of Mines, and to give his advice, especially 
when any business of a mathematical nature was on hand. 

Charles seems to have at once discerned the rare abilities 
of Swedenborg, and with a desire of uniting him in still 
closer bonds of amity with his favorite Polheim, he advised 
Polheim to give him his daughter in marriage. To this 
proposal Swedenborg appears to have been in nowise averse. 
He lived with Polheim, at once as his coadjutor, and as his 
pupil in mathematics ; and having thus constant opportuni- 
ties of seeing the fair Emerentia, Polheim's second daughter, 
had become enamored of her graces. In one of his letters, 
he remarks : " Polheim's eldest daughter is promised to a 
page of the king's. I wonder what people say of this in re- 
lation to myself. His second daughter is, in my opinion, 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 29 

much the handsomest." The attachment, however, was not 
mutual, and the lady would not allow herself to be betrothed. 
Her father, who deeply loved Swedenborg, caused a written 
agreement to be drawn up, promising his daughter at some 
future day. This document, Emerentia, from filial obedi- 
ence, signed ; but, as ladies generally do, when forced to love 
in this way, took to sighs and sadness, which so affected her 
brother with sorrow, that he secretly purloined the agree- 
ment from Swedenborg. The paper was soon missed ; for 
Swedenborg read it over frequently, and, in his grief at its 
loss, besought Polheim to replace it by a new one. But as 
Swedenborg now discovered the pain which he gave to the 
object of his affections, he at once relinquished all claim to 
her hand, and left her father's house. This was his last, as 
it was his first endeavor after marriage. In after years, when 
jocosely asked whether he had ever been desirous of marry- 
ing, he answered : " In my youth I was once on the road to 
matrimony." And on being asked what was the obstacle, 
with his characteristic simplicity he said : " She would not 
have me." Considering the sfudious and abstracted life 
which he eventually led, it is not to be regretted that he re- 
mained unwedded. That he was no harsh despiser of the 
sex, we know well from his writings ; and that his life was 
in agreement with his books, we also know. The loveliest 
descriptions of female grace and beauty we have ever met 
with, are contained in his works, chiefly in his treatise on 
"Conjugal Love." M. Sandell, a member of the Royal 
Academy of' Sciences in Sweden, who pronounced a magnifi- 
cent eulogium on his fellow-member, Swedenborg, shortly 
after his death, says : " Though Swedenborg was never mar- 
ried, it was not owing to any indifference toward the sex ; 
for he esteemed the company of a fine, intelligent woman as 
one of the most agreeable of pleasures ; but his profound 

3 * 



30 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

studies rendered expedient for him the quiet of a single 
life." 

Swedenborg seems to have had much intercourse with the 
King. In one of his letters, he says : " I found his Majesty 
very gracious to me ; more so than I could expect. This is 
a good omen for the future. Every day I laid mathematical 
subjects before his Majesty, who allowed everything to please 
him. When the eclipse took place, I had his Majesty out to 
see it, and we reasoned much thereupon. He again spoke 
of my ' Daedalus,' and remarked upon my not continuing 
it ; for which I pleaded want of means. This he does not 
like to hear of; so I hope to have some assistance shortly." 
But assistance did not come, and " Daedalus" went the way 
of many such undertakings. Talking of mathematics one 
day, Charles remarked that " he who knew nothing of ma- 
thematics, did not deserve to be considered a rational man;" 
a sentiment which Swedenborg thought "truly worthy of a 
king." * 

* The following account of Charles XII., written by Emanuel Sweden- 
borg, was printed in the " Gentleman's Magazine/' for September, 1754. 
It is a portion of a letter which Swedenborg wrote to M. Nordberg, while 
the latter was engaged in writing his " Life of Charles XII.," in which 
work the letter appeared at full length. It is too long to be quoted here ; 
the following -extracts contain the pith of it. It may be proper to observe, 
that it was written by the author prior to his being called to the sacred 
office which occupied the last twenty-nine years of his life. This accounts 
for his speaking of the celebrated Swedish hero with so much greater re- 
spect than he is known to have afterwards entertained for his memory. 

" Having been frequently admitted to the honor of hearing his late most 
excellent Majesty, Charles XII. discourse on mathematical subjects, I 
presume an account of a new arithmetic invented by him, may merit the 
attention of my readers. 

"His Majesty observed then, that the denary arithmetic, universally re- 
ceived and practiced, was most probably derived from the original method 
of counting on the fingers; that illiterate people of old, when they had run 
through the fingers of both hands, repeated new periods over and over 
again, and every time spread open both hands; which being done ten 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 31 

Charles XII. was now engaged in the siege of Frederick- 
shall, and Swedenborg's aid was called in. He very ingen- 

times, they distinguished each step by proper marks, as by joining two, 
three, or four fingers. Afterwards, when this method of numeration on the 
fingers came to be expressed by proper characters, it soon became firmly 
and universally established, and so the denary calculus has been retained to 
this day. But surely, were a solid geometrician, thoroughly versed in the 
abstract nature and fundamentals of numbers, to set his mind upon intro- 
ducing a still more useful calculus into the world, instead of ten, he would 
select such a perfect square, or cube number, as by continual bisection, or 
halving, would at length terminate in unity, and be better adapted to the 
subdivisions of measures, weights, coins, etc. 

" Thus intent on a new arithmetic, the hero pitched upon the number 
eight, as most fit for the purpose, since it could not only be halved contin- 
ually down to unity, without a fraction, but contained within it the square 
of 2, and was itself the cube thereof, and was also applicable to the re- 
ceived denomination of several sorts of weights and coins, rising to 16 
and 32, the double and quadruple of 8. Upon these first considerations, 
he was pleased to command me to draw up an essay on an octonary calcu- 
lus, which I completed in a few days, with its application to the received 
divisions, * coins, measures, and, weights, a disquisition on cubes and 
squares, and a new and easy way of extracting roots, all illustrated with 
examples. 

v His Majesty having cast his eye twice or thrice over it, and observing, 
perhaps from some hints in the essay, that the denary calculus had several 
advantages not always attended to, he did not at that time seem absolutely 
to approve of the octonary : or, it is likely he might conceive, that though 
it seemed easy in theory, yet it might prove difficult to introduce it to prac- 
tice. Be this as it may, he insisted on fixing upon some other that was 
both a cube and a square number, referrible to 8, and divisible down to 
unity by bisection. This could be no other than 64, the cube of 4, and 
square of 8, divisible down to unity without a fraction. 

"I immediately presumed to object that such a number would be too 
prolix, as it rises through a series of entirely distinct and different num- 
bers, up to 64, and then again to its duplicate 4,096, and on to its triplicate 
262,144, before the fourth step commences ; so that the difficulty of such a 
calculus would be incredible, not only in addition and subtraction, but to 
a still higher degree in multiplication and division; for the memory must 
necessarily retain in the multiplication table, 3,969 distinct products of the 
63 numbers of the first step multiplied into one another; whereas only 49 
arc necessary in the octonary, and but 81 are required in the denary arith- 



32 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

iously planned rolling machines, by which two galleys, five 
large boats, and a sloop, were conveyed from Stromstadt to 

metic; which last is difficult to be remembered and applied in practice, by 
some capacities. But the stronger my objections were, the more resolute 
was his royal mind upon attempting such a calculus. 

Obstructions made him eagerly aspire 

All to surmount, and nobly soar the higher. 

He insisted that the alleged difficulties might be overbalanced by very 
many advantages. 

"A few days after this I was called before his Majesty, who, resuming 
the subject, demanded if I had made a trial. I still urging my former ob- 
jections, he reached me a paper written with his own band, in new char- 
acters and terms of denomination, the perusal of which, he was pleased, at 
my entreaty, to grant me; wherein, to my great surprise, I found not only 
new characters and numbers, (the one almost naturally expressive of the 
other) in a continued series to 64, so ranged as easily to be remembered, 
but also new denominations, so contrived by pairs, as to be easily extended 
to myriads by a continued variation of the character and denomination. 
And further casting my eye on several new methods of his for addition and 
multiplication by this calculus, either artificially contrived, or else inher- 
ent in the characters of the numbers themselves, I was struck with the 
profoundest admiration of the force of his Majesty's genius, and with 
such strange amazement, as obliged me to esteem this eminent personage, 
not my rival, but by far my superior in my own art. And having the 
original still in my custody, at a proper time I may publish it, as it highly 
deserves; whereby it will appear with what discerning skill he was en- 
dowed, or how deeply he penetrated into the obscurest recesses of the 
arithmetical science. 

" Besides, his eminent talents in calculation further appear by his fre- 
quently working and solving the most difficult numerical problems, barely 
by thought and memory ; in which operations others are obliged to take 
great pains and tedious labor. 

"Having duly weighed the vast advantages arising from mathematical 
and arithmetical knowledge in most occasions of human life, he frequently 
used it as an adage, that he toho is ignorant of numbers is scarce half a 
man. 

"While he was at Bender, he composed a complete volume of military 
exercises, highly esteemed by those who are best skilled in the art of 
war." 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 33 

Iderfjol, overland; a distance of fourteen miles. Under 
cover of these vessels, Charles was enabled to transport his 
heavy artillery under the very walls of Frederickshall ; but 
it availed little, for at the siege of this town, on November 
30, 1718, (old style,) this inveterate warrior received the 
fatal blow which ended his troublous and eventful career. 
He was struck in the head with a cannon ball, and though 
death must have been instantaneous, he was found with his 
right hand firmly grasping the handle of his sword; so 
prompt was he to put himself in an attitude of defence. 

" His fall was destined to a barren strand, 
A petty fortress and a dubious hand; 
He left a name at which the world grew pale, 
To point a moral or adorn a tale." 

In 1719 the Swedberg family were ennobled by Queen 
Ulrica Eleonora, and Swedenborg from that time took his 
place with the nobles of the equestrian order, in the triennial 
Assemblies of the States. This distinction conferred little 
else than a change of name. He was neither a Count nor a 
Baron, as has very commonly been supposed. 

Emanuel Swedenborg was rapidly winning for himself the 
name of a deep thinker and a ready writer. In 1717 he 
published "An Introduction to Algebra," under the title of 
"The Art of the Kules." It was highly praised for its 
clearness, and the order and force of its examples. The first 
portion of the work, however, was all that was published. 
The second, containing the first account given in Sweden 
of the differential and integral calculus, still remains in MS. 
His second publication this year was, "Attempts to find the 
Longitude of Places by Lunar Observations." Both works 
were written in Swedish. 

In 1719 four works proceeded from his increasingly fertile 
pen. "A Proposal for a Decimal System of Money and 
Measures;" "A Treatise on the Motion and Position of the 



34 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

Earth and Planets;" "Proofs derived from Appearances in 
Sweden, of the Depth of the Sea, and the greater Force of 
the Tides in the Ancient World;" and "On Docks, Sluices, 
and Salt Works." 

His work on the Decimal system of coinage and measures 
was republished in 1795. Swedenborg's ideas on this and 
most other subjects were far ahead of the times in which he 
lived. In one of his letters he thus alludes to the discourage- 
ments he met with on this account. "It is a little discour- 
aging to me to be advised to relinquish my views, as among 
the novelties the country can not bear. For my part, I 
desire all possible novelties ; aye, a novelty for every day in 
the year; for in every age there is an abundance of persons 
who follow the beaten track, and remain in the old way; 
while there are not more than from six to ten in a century 
who bring forward innovations founded on argument and 
reason." 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 35 



CHAPTER III. 

Travels again — Publishes five Scientific Pamphlets and "Miscella- 
neous Observations" — Meturns Home and enters on the duty of his 
Assessorship — Writes his et Opera Philosophica et Mineralia/' and 
goes abroad to publish it. 

In the spring of 1721, Swedenborg visited Holland a 
second time, and chose Amsterdam as a place of publication 
for the following five little works: — "Some Specimens of a 
Work on the Principles of Natural Philosophy, comprising 
New Attempts to Explain the Phenomena of Chemistry and 
Physics by Geometry;" "New Observations and Discoveries 
respecting Iron and Fire, and particularly respecting the 
Elemental Nature of Fire, together with a new construction 
of Stoves;" "A New Method of finding the Longitude of 
Places, on Land or at Sea, by Lunar Observations;" "A 
New Mechanical Plan of constructing Docks and Dykes;" 
and "A Mode of Discovering the Powers of Vessels by the 
application of Mechanical Principles." 

The titles of these pamphlets prove that their author was 
no ordinary man. But the publication of them was not his 
only object in this visit to the continent. It was his desire 
to improve his practical knowledge of mining, to enable him 
the better to fulfill his duties as Assessor. For this purpose 
he left Amsterdam for Leipsic, passing through Aix-la- 
Chapelle, Liege, and Cologne, and visiting the different 
mines and smelting works which lay in his route. At 
Leipsic he published, in 1722, "Miscellaneous Observations 
connected with the Physical Sciences," Parts I. to III.; and 



db LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

at Hamburg, in the same year, Part IV., principally on 
minerals, iron, and the stalactites in Beaumann's cavern. 
The reigning Duke of Brunswick, Louis Rudolph, most 
hospitably received Swedenborg, defrayed his traveling 
expenses, and on his departure, testified his admiration of 
the young savant by presenting him with a gold medallion, 
and a weighty silver goblet. In return for these favors, 
Swedenborg dedicated Part IV. of his "Miscellaneous Obser- 
vations" to him. 

In speaking of the foregoing works, it is difficult, in the 
few words to which we must limit ourselves, to do them the 
justice which their originality and daring speculation deserve. 
As Wilkinson remarks, "the fortress of mineral truth was 
the first which he approached, and with the most guarded 
preparation. His method was furnished by geometry and 
mechanics; the laws of the pure sciences were to be the 
interpreters of the facts of chemistry and physics. The 
beginning of nature, says he, is identical with the beginning 
of geometry; the origin of natural particles is due to mathe- 
matical points, just as is the origin of lines, forms, and the 
whole of geometry : because everything in nature is geomet- 
rical, everything in geometry is natural. Carrying out this 
theory, he seeks to define the laws of chemical essence and 
combination, by the truths of mathematics." Mr. Strutt, 
the translator of these works into English, says: "This 
extraordinary attempt to bring invisible things to light, has 
been thoroughly justified by the success which has attended 
Dalton's hypothesis, in an age better prepared for its appli- 
cation ; and by the equally remarkable fact that the defini- 
tions given of solids, acids, and alkalies, have gradually 
approximated very near indeed to those which result from 
Swedenborg's hypothesis. We say nothing here of a latent 
connection between the principle on which it is founded, and 
some of the results obtained by Berzelius, whose fame, as a 



EMANUEL SWEDENBOHG. 37 

chemist, is as wide as the civilized world." It need only be 
added that M. Dumas, the French chemist, ascribes to these 
works by Swedenborg, the origin of the modern science 
of crystallography. He says, "It is to him we are in- 
debted for the first idea of making cubes, tetrahedrons, 
pyramids, and the different crystalline forms, by the 
grouping of spherical particles; and it is an idea which 
has been renewed by several distinguished men, Wollaston 
in particular." 

After an absence of fifteen months, Swedenborg returned 
to his home in Stockholm, at midsummer, 1722. He now 
for the first time entered fully upon the duties of his Asses- 
sorship; having deferred doing so until his knowledge of 
metallurgy had become sufficiently practical and extensive. 
At this time he published an anonymous pamphlet " On the 
Depreciation and Eise of the Swedish Currency." The 
currency seems to have been a favorite subject with Swe- 
denborg; and in his senatorial capacity, it engaged much of 
his attention. The pamphlet seems to have been much 
thought of, for we find that it was republished at Upsal 
in 1771. There are few productions of this kind that 
will endure a revival forty-nine years after their first pub- 
lication. 

The tenor of Swedenborg's life for eleven years after this, 
seems to have flowed quietly on in the regular fulfilment of 
the duties of his office. It may be supposed that he had be- 
come tired of writing and publishing scientific works, and 
that for a time he wished to rest from this kind of labor. 
His abilities were appreciated by his countrymen, for we 
find that he was solicited to accept the Professorship of 
mathematics in the University of Upsal, in 1724. He de- 
clined the honor. It appears that he had a distaste for the 
unpractical and merely speculative character of the pure 
mathematician. We find him writing to his brother-in-law 

4 



dO LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

in this strain: — "I wonder at Messieurs the mathematicians 
having lost all heart and spirit to realize that fine design of 
yours for an astronomical observatory. It is the fatality of 
mathematicians to remain chiefly in theory. I have often 
thought it would be a capital thing, if, to each ten mathe- 
maticians, one good practical man were added, to lead the 
rest to market: he would be of more use and mark than all 
the ten." In 1729, Swedenborg became a member of the 
Royal Academy of Science at Stockholm. 

Discontinuing the pamphlet style of publication, Sweden- 
borg now centered his thoughts upon the production of a 
much larger and more laborious work than he had hitherto 
attempted. It was entitled " Opera Philosophica et Minera- 
lia." In order to secure its proper publication, he went 
abroad, for the third time, in May, 1733. After spending 
five months in Germany, seeing everything note-worthy, he 
commenced the printing of his work at Leipsic, in the month 
of October. In the course of the year 1734, the whole was 
finished in three handsome folio volumes, enriched with nu- 
merous copper-plates, and an engraved likeness of the 
author. At this time he was again a visitor at the court of 
the Duke of Brunswick, who munificently defrayed the cost 
of his expensive publication. The volumes were published 
at Leipsic and Dresden. 

At the same time he issued a little work called "A Philo- 
sophical Argument on the Infinite, and the Final Cause of 
Creation; and on the Mechanism of the Intercourse between 
the Soul and the Body." It may be regarded as a supple- 
ment to the foregoing. 

His work being finished, he left Leipsic for Cassel, and 
passing homewards through Gotha, Brunswick, and Ham- 
burg, arrived at Stockholm in July, 1734. It is to be re- 
membered that in this journey he had still the duties of his 






EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 39 

office in view. He visited mines everywhere, studied their 
modes of working, and sought continually to make himself 
useful to his country. 

It now becomes necessary to speak of his great volumes 
of philosophical and mineral works. 



40 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



CHAPTER IV. 
Opera JPhilosophica et Mineralia. 

In attempting to give the reader an idea of the contents 
and aims of this great work, within the compass of a few 
paragraphs, one feels extreme difficulty in knowing where 
or how to begin. It starts so many topics, is so full of the 
deepest scientific truth, speculates so boldly, and reaches to 
such heights of subtle thought, that we must necessarily con- 
fine ourselves to a very superficial view, and the enumeration 
of a few of its prominent features. 

As before said, the work occupies three large folio volumes. 
Of the second and third of these, it does not lie in our pro- 
vince to say much. Both are strictly practical works ; one 
on iron, and the other on copper and brass. They are evi- 
dences of Swedenborg's ardent devotion to the duties of his 
office ; and as a testimony to the worth of the books them- 
selves, it need only be said, that portions of them have been 
repeatedly reprinted, and that they are held in high estima- 
tion by those who study metallurgy as a science, or follow it 
as a profession. The publication of the secrets of trade and 
manufacture in these volumes, was not relished by the nar- 
row-minded and selfish. Of such the author observes: — 
"There are persons who love to hold their knowledge for 
themselves alone, and to be the reputed possessors and guard- 
ians of secrets. People of this kind grudge the public 
everything, and if any discovery, by which art and science 
will be benefited, comes to light, they regard it askance, with 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 41 

scowling visages, and probably denounce the discoverer as a 
babbler who lets out mysteries. But why should such se- 
crets be grudged to the public? Why withhold from this 
enlightened age? Whatever is worthy to be known, should 
by all means be brought to the great and general market of 
the world. Unless we do this, we can neither grow wiser 
nor happier with time." These are true, liberal, and noble 
words. 

But it is the first volume which is the greatest and most 
important of the three. It has recently been translated into 
English by the Kev. Augustus Clissold, and published in 
two considerable octavos. It is entitled "Principia; or the 
First Principles of Natural Things, being New Attempts 
toward a Philosophical Explanation of the Elementary 
World." In this volume an attempt is made to explain the 
generation of the elements, the creation of matter, and the 
nature of the occult forces playing within nature. To 
pronounce an absolute opinion upon such a work would 
be highly hazardous; for positive science at present, 
affords no sufficient data to test many of its highest 
reasonings. So far, however, as such tests have been granted, 
they serve to manifest the fact that among speculative 
natural philosophers, Swedenborg is second to none. Goer- 
res, an eminent German philosopher, speaking of the "Prin- 
cipia," remarks: — "It is a production indicative of profound 
thought in all its parts, and not unworthy of being placed by 
the side of Newton's mathematical 'Principia of Natural 
Philosophy/ " We will now adduce a few proofs of the 
truth of this assertion. 

Humboldt, in his "Kosmos," remarks: "That great and 
enthusiastic although cautious observer, Sir William Her- 
schel, was the first to sound the depths of heaven, in order 
to determine the limits and form of the starry system we 
inhabit." The discovery of the place of our sun and system 
4 * B* 



42 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

in the Milky Way, is certainly due to Herschel, but Swe- 
denborg has a prior claim to the honor. In the "Principia," 
written four years before Herschel was born, the statement 
of our sun's position in the heavens was explicitly made, 
with the method by which the fact was observed. But this 
is not all. The changes observed in the planetary orbits, 
seemed at one time to warrant the belief in a final destruc- 
tion of all things through the falling of creation into chaos. 
After awhile, however, La Grange brought forward his 
beautiful theory, by which was established the doctrine, that 
though the solar system is liable to certain mutations in the 
form and eccentricity of its orbits in very long periods, yet 
in consequence of a certain relation which prevails in the 
system, between the masses, orbital axes, and eccentricities, 
in time all orbits return again to what they originally were, 
oscillating between very narrow limits. This discovery of a 
cyclar return, confirmed by the most eminent astronomers, 
is pronounced by Professor Playfair to be, "next to Newton's 
discovery of the elliptical orbits of the planets, — without 
doubt the noblest truth in physical astronomy." This dis- 
covery has also to be claimed for Swedenborg. In his 
"Principia," the fact of this* cyclar mutation and return of 
the planets to order, is repeatedly stated, and with great 
accuracy and plainness. Want of space alone forbids several 
quotations in proof. It need only be noted that the "Prin- 
cipia" was published forty-four years before La Grange an- 
nounced his famous theory. Again, the doctrine of the 
translatory or progressive motion of the stars along the 
Milky Way, and their streaming out at the northern end, 
and in at the southern; diverging at the northern end in 
every direction, while at the southern end they converge at 
every point, — one of the most magnificent truths of modern 
astronomy, — is clearly set forth in this wonderful work of 
Swedenborg's, years before the full fact had dawned upon 



EMANUEL SWEBENBORG. 43 

the scientific world. Again, the sublime doctrine of the 
cosmical arrangement of the stars, or of the clustering of 
stars into distinct systems, forming starry systems, as planets 
do solar systems, generally attributed to Kant, Mitchell, and 
one or two others, was promulgated by Swedenborg in the 
" Principia," when Kant, the first of the acknowledged pro- 
pounders of the theory, was a boy of ten years of age. The 
first enunciation of the nebular hypothesis, is also to be re- 
ferred to Swedenborg's "Principia." Indeed La Place, to 
whom the hypothesis is generally attributed, indirectly owed 
some of his ideas on the subject to Swedenborg. La Place 
owned that Buffon was the first that suggested the theory of 
the origin of the planets and their satellites from the sun. 
Now Buffon was acquainted with Swedenborg's " Principia," 
as is evident from the fact that an eminent London book- 
seller recently sold a copy of the "Principia" containing 
Buffon's autograph.* It need only be added, that, fifteen 
years before Buffon published his theory, and seventy-five 
years before La Place offered his own to the public, Sweden- 
borg had propounded his version of the nebular hypothesis 
in the " Principia." It is true that La Place and Sweden- 
borg differ on several points; but recent science and experi- 
ment have tended to prove that, wherein they differ, Swe- 
denborg's theories are the most accurate. 

While advancing these high claims for Swedenborg, in 
astronomical science and theory, it is but right to remove 
from the public mind an erroneous idea, which, like his 
titles of Baron and Count, has no foundation in fact. We 
allude to his common repute as the announcer of the exis- 
tence of the seventh planet, Uranus, discovered by Herschel 
in 1781. That he announced the existence of this planet 
long before its actual discovery, has been stated innumerable 

* The bookseller referred to was Mr. Bohn, of Henrietta street, Covent 
Garden. 



44 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

times, at home and abroad ; and Emerson in his lecture on 
the Mystic, takes opportunity to be witty in regretting that 
he did not discover the eighth. The mistake has arisen from 
Swedenborg's talking of a seventh planet in "The Worship 
and Love of God," a book of his yet to be noticed. Now 
the belief in the existence of a seventh planet was enter- 
tained by most of the astronomers of his day, and even so 
far back as Kepler, in 1584. Swedenborg, in speaking as 
he did, only expressed a general idea. Astronomers observ- 
ing the wide space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter 
conjectured that some planet must roll between. The after 
discovery of numerous asteroids between these orbits, gave 
some show of truth to their conjectures. It was of this sup- 
posed planet between Mars and Jupiter, and not of Uranus, 
(afterwards discovered by Sir William Herschel,) that Swe- 
denborg spoke. 

In magnetism, as in astronomy, the "Principia" is no 
less rich in original thought and discovery. It was not 
until the close of the eighteenth century that the position 
of the magnetic equator was discovered to be different from 
that of the geographical. After observations confirmed the 
fact that the mean latitudinal positions of the magnetic poles 
and equators, are identical with those of the earth's ecliptic 
and ecliptical poles. This fact, over which there has been 
much congratulation, was set forth in the "Principia" many 
years before it was confirmed by actual observation. Again, 
the fact that the southern magnetic pole has a longer axis 
from the center of the magnetic equator, than the northern, 
and hence occupies a higher latitudinal position; and, as a 
consequence, that the revolution of the north magnetic pole 
is quicker than that of the southern; also that the south 
magnetic pole possesses a greater attractive force than the 
north, — facts not suspected till the investigations of Hansteen 
in 1819, and only fully confirmed by observation very 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 45 

recently, — were all proclaimed in the "Principia" nearly a 
century before positive science had embraced them in her 
domain. Swedenborg also takes precedence of all other 
discoverers in the announcement of the identity of the 
magnetic streams forming the aurora, and those influencing 
the magnetic needle. So full is the "Principia" of truths 
respecting magnetism, — which the world generally supposes 
to be a novelty of the present day — that we could not 
imagine a greater pleasure or surprise awaiting any one 
devoted to the prosecution of magnetic science, than the 
perusal of this commonly supposed old-fashioned and anti- 
quated "Principia" of speculative science. 

We will now say a few words on the great chemical truths 
which the "Principia" revealed. In 1734, not a whisper 
had been breathed regarding the composite nature of the 
atmosphere. The earliest date which can be assigned for 
the practical discovery of the two-fold na^re of atmospheric 
air, is 1772-4, the date of Priestley's celebrated experiments. 
But we find in the "Principia," that Swedenborg sets forth 
the following facts : — that pure and dry atmospheric air is a 
compound of two constituents; that these constituents are 
combined in unequal proportions ; that the element greatest 
in quantity is the extinguisher of combustion; and lastly, 
that the element greatest in quantity is a constituent of 
water as well as of air. The merest tyro in science will, at 
a glance, perceive the importance and extent of ground 
which these propositions cover, and how profound must have 
been that genius, which, in the midst of the deepest scientific 
darkness, could draw from nature these deep and choice 
truths. But this was not all. Water as well as air yielded 
to him the secret of its constitution. In Swedenborg's day, 
the whole world thought and spoke of water as an element, 
and even after the composite nature of air was revealed, 
water maintained its elemental character up to 1783, when 



46 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

the discovery was almost simultaneously made by Watt, 
Priestley, Cavendish, and Lavoisier, that water, like air, is 
a result of the combination of two gases. Now in the 
" Principia," written fifty years before, we are expressly told 
that pure water is a compound substance, and the particulars 
and quantities of the two elements in its composition are 
correctly given. There are many other truths in modern 
science which the "Principia" anticipates; such as the atomic 
theory, and the identity of electricity and lightning; but we 
must draw to a close. Enough has been said to show the 
high merits of the book, and to prove how worthy it is of the 
study and attention of all true lovers of science. 

The publication of the "Principia" gained for its author 
great reputation, and his friendship and correspondence 
were eagerly courted by all the philosophers of his day. In 
December, 1734, the Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg 
appointed him on£ of their corresponding members. The 
Pope honored the work by placing it in that noble catalogue 
of books, the Index Expurgatorius, in 1739. 

It may be very pertinently asked, how it happens that a 
work abounding in such important doctrines and theories 
should be so little known. The neglect is easily accounted 
for in the great subsequent fame of its author as a religious 
visionary. His later reputation effectually out-shone that 
which he so deservedly won in his younger days; and few, 
even of his own disciples, until recently, thought of lifting 
from the dusty shelves those great books of scientific theory, 
which, of themselves, established for their author a place 
among the greatest of men. The "Principia," as its trans- 
lator truly says, "is a book for the future;" and taking 
these words in their full import, it would be hardly possible 
to pronounce a higher panegyric. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 47 



CHAPTER V. 
Doings and Travels. 

From 1734 to 1736, Swedenborg remained at home. In 
July, 1735, his father died; and a year after, Swedenborg 
went abroad, as he states in his diary, "for a sojourn of 
three or four years, to write and publish a certain book." 
During his absence he resigned half of his official salary to 
his substitutes. His father having left him some money, he 
was the better able to do so. He journeyed through Den- 
mark, Hanover, and Holland, and arrived at Rotterdam 
during the fair. Observing the amusements of the people, 
mountebanks, shows, etc., he took occasion to moralize thus 
upon the character and prosperity of the Dutch. "Here at 
Rotterdam, it has suggested itself to me to inquire why it 
is that God has blessed a people so barbarous and boorish as 
the Dutch, with such a fertile and luxuriant soil; that He 
has preserved them, for so long a course of years, from all 
misfortune; that He has raised them up in commerce above 
all other nations; and made their provinces the mart and 
emporium of the wealth of Europe and the world. On 
consideration, the first and principal cause of these circum- 
stances appears to be, that Holland is a republic, which 
form of government is more pleasing to God than an abso- 
lute monarchy. In a republic, no veneration or worship is 
paid to any man, but the highest and lowest think them- 
selves equal to kings and emperors; as may be seen from the 
characteristic bearing of every one in Holland. The only 



48 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

one whom they worship is God. And when God alone is 
worshiped, and men are not adored instead of Him, such 
worship is most acceptable to Him. Then again, in Holland, 
there is the greatest liberty. None are slaves, but all are as 
lords and masters under the government of the most high 
God ; and the consequence is, that they do not depress their 
manliness either by shame or fear, but always preserve a 
firm and sound mind in a sound body; and with a free 
spirit, and an erect countenance, commit themselves and 
their property to God, who alone ought to govern all things. 
It is not so in absolute monarchies, where men are educated 
to simulation and dissimulation ; where they learn to have 
one thing concealed in the breast, and to bring forth another 
upon the tongue; where their minds, by inveterate custom,' 
become so false and counterfeit, that, in divine worship itself, 
their words differ from their thoughts, and they proffer their 
flattery and deceit to God himself, which certainly must be 
most displeasing to Him. This seems to be the reason why 
the Dutch are more prosperous in their undertakings than 
other nations." Then, with rare discrimination, he adds, 
"but their worshiping mammon as a Deity, and caring for 
nothing but gold, is a thing which is not compatible with 
long prosperity." The silent and uninfluential place which 
Holland now fills in Europe, places the seal of truth on these 
quiet lines. 
y^The Eoman Catholic Church seems to have attracted 
much of his attention in his travels, and the grossness and 
sensuality of its priesthood were strongly remarked upon. 
"The monks," says he, "at Eoye, are fat and corpulent, and 
an army of such fellows might be banished without loss to 
the State. They fill their bellies, take all they can get, and 
give the poor nothing but fine words and blessings; and yet 
they are willing to take from the poor all their substance for 
nothing. What is the good of bare-footed Franciscans?" 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 49 

In Paris, he spent a year and a half. There also he was 
amazed at the clerical riot and corruption. "It is found," 
he observes, "that the tax which they term the dixiemes, 
yields annually thirty-two millions sterling; and that the 
Parisians spend two-thirds of this amount over their own 
city. One-fifth of the whole possessions of the kingdom is 
in the hands of the clerical order. If this condition of 
things last long, the ruin of the empire will be speedy." 
He little dreamed of the fearful verification which these 
words would receive. 

His journal in Paris reveals the fact of his hearty enjoy- 
ment of sight-seeing and amusements. Visits to churches, 
monasteries, palaces, gardens, museums, and theatres, evi- 
dence with what zest he drank the cup of life, and with what 
interest he looked upon men and their affairs. In this re- 
spect we do well to compare Swedenborg with many whom 
the world in its ignorance associate with him. At no period 
of his life was he a cold self-righteous ascetic, looking abroad 
upon men with a bitter and accusing scowl. At no time did 
he insult his Maker with upbraidings that his fate was to 
live in an evil world, and with a wicked generation. He 
received life with thankfulness, partook temperately of all 
its lawful pleasures, did his duty, and took care while living 
with the world to keep himself unspotted from its evil. 
This social discipline was one of the Divine means by which 
he was fitted for the full performance of his future mission. 

We are not informed of the nature of the work which he 
at this time went abroad to write and publish. From his 
manuscripts, however, it appears that he was preparing ma- 
terials and disciplining his mind for his great work, the 
"Animal Kingdom," by writing short papers on various 
physiological subjects. Many of these papers have been 
translated and published under the title of "Posthumous 
Tracts." 

5 C * 



50 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

Leaving Paris in March, 1738, Swedenborg directed his 
steps toward Italy, and after visiting its principal cities, 
arrived at Home on the 25th September. Mr. Rich, in his 
"Biography of Swedenborg," remarks, — -This visit should 
be a memorable one, for it brought the church of the past 
and the future into a singular communion with each otherj 
— Rome in the still atmosphere and fading light of autumn, 
with all its trophies of Pagan art, and its hoary traditions; 
and Swedenborg, the predestined Seer of the last ages, whose 
eye was just kindling with the light of inspiration. We 
should lose all faith in the instinctive prescience of the hu- 
man spirit when great events are at hand, if we might not 
believe that a presentiment of something in the shadowy 
distance, connecting his future with the strange mystery of 
the city, did not cross, for a moment, the mind of Sweden- 
borg, when he entered the once holy and revered metropolis 
of the faith." / 

After a sojourn of five months, Swedenborg left Rome on 
the 15th of February, 1739, varying his homeward route. 
His journal from the 17th of March, 1739, when he was at 
Genoa, is a blank, and his after wanderings we can only 
conjecture. "It is most probable," says Wilkinson, "that 
he deposited the manuscript of the " Economy of the Animal 
Kingdom," at Amsterdam, on his way from Leipsic to 
Sweden, in 1740; that he lived in his own country from 
1740 or 1741 till 1744, and in the latter year went again to 
Holland, and from thence came to England, where we meet 
him in 1745." 

In 1740-41, Swedenborg published at Amsterdam his 
"Economy of the Animal Kingdom;" and in 1744-45, the 
"Animal Kingdom," Parts I. and II. at the Hague, and 
Part III. in London. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 51 



CHAPTER VI. 

Tlie "Economy of the Animal Kingdom," and the "Animal 
Kingdom." 

In the "Animal Kingdom," Swedenborg referred solely to 
the human body, it being the microcosm, or representative 
of all inferior systems. In the "Economy of the Animal 
Kingdom," he treats of the blood, and the organs which 
contain it; the coincidence of the motion of the brain with 
the respiration of the lungs; and of the human soul. The 
method pursued in this work is admirable. A careful series 
of extracts, containing facts from the best anatomists, is 
prefixed to each chapter, and thence is deduced the author's 
theory. It would be very difficult indeed to present, in an 
abstract, the substance of these quotations, and without this, 
(which would be inconsistent with our limits,) the theories 
could not be fairly understood or appreciated. His demon- 
stration of the coincidence of the motion of the brain with 
the respiration of the lungs, is well worthy of notice. Wil- 
kinson, speaking of this in his "Biography of Swedenborg," 
says: "Let any reader think for a moment of what he 
experiences when he breathes, and attends to the act. He 
will find that his whole frame heaves and subsides at the 
time; face, chest, stomach, and limbs, are all actuated by 
his respiration. His sense is, that not only his lungs but his 
entire body breathes. Now mark what Swedenborg elicited 
from this fact. If the whole man breathes or heaves, so also 
do the organs which he contains, for they are necessarily 
drawn outwards by the rising of the surface; therefore they 



52 LIFE AND WHITINGS OF 

all breathe. What do they breathe? Two elements are 
omnipresent in them, the blood-vessels and the nerves ; the 
one giving them pabulum, the other life. They draw then 
into themselves blood, and life or nervous spirit. Each does 
this according to its own form; each, therefore, has a free 
individuality like the whole man; each takes its food, the 
blood, when it chooses ; each wills into itself the life according 
to its desires. The man is made up of manlike parts ; his 
freedom is an aggregate of a host of atomic, organical 
freedoms. The heart does not cram them with its blood, 
but each, like the man itself, takes what it thinks right. 

"But, furthermore, thought commences and corresponds 
with respiration. The reader has before attended to the 
presence of the heaving over the body; now let him feel his 
thoughts, and he will see that they too heave with the mass. 
When he entertains a long thought he draws a long breath; 
when he thinks quickly, his breath vibrates with rapid 
alternations ; when the tempest of anger shakes his mind, his 
breath is tumultuous ; when his soul is deep and tranquil, so 
is his respiration; when success inflates him, his lungs are as 
tumid as his conceits. Let him make trial of the contrary: 
let him endeavor to think in long stretches at the same time 
that he breathes in fits, and he will find that it is impossible ; 
that in this case the chopping lungs will needs mince his 
thoughts. Now the mind dwells in the brain, and it is the 
brain, therefore, which shares the varying fortunes of the 
breathing. It is strange that this correspondence between 
the states of the brain or mind, and the lungs, has not been 
admitted into science; for it holds in every case, at every 
moment. In truth it is so unfailing, and so near to the 
center of sense, that this has made it difficult to regard it as 
an object; for if you only try to think upon the breathing, 
in consequence of the fixation of thought, you stop the 
breath that very moment, and only recommence it when the 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 53 

thought can no longer hold, that is to say, when the brain 
has need to expire. Now Swedenborg, with amazing obser- 
vation and sagacity, has made a regular study of this ratio 
between the respiration and the thoughts and emotions ; he 
shows in detail that the two correspond exactly, and more- 
over that their correspondence is one of the long-sought links 
between the soul and the body, whereby every thought is 
represented and carried out momentaneously in the expanse 
of the human frame. / It is difficult to give a more plain or 
excellent reason of the tie between the body and the soul, 
than that the latter finds the body absolutely to its mind ; 
while on the other hand, the living body clings to the soul, 
because it wants a friendly superior life to infuse and direct 
its life." / 

The "Animal Kingdom," written after the same plan as 
the " Economy," treats of the organs of the abdomen, of those 
of the chest, and of the skin. Swedenborg, in setting forth 
his plan of operation, in which he announces his intention to 
examine, physically and philosophically, the whole anatomy 
of the body, and lastly of the soul, and of its state in the 
body, says: "From this summary or plan, the reader may 
see that the end I propose to myself in the work, is a 
knowledge of the soul, since this knowledge will constitute 
the crown of my studies. This, then, my labors intend, and 
thither they aim. To accomplish this grand end, I enter the 
circus, designing to consider and examine thoroughly the 
whole world of microcosm which the soul inhabits; for I 
think it vain to seek her anywhere but in her own kingdom. 
I am, therefore, resolved to allow myself no respite, until I 
have run through the whole field to the very goal, or until 
I have traversed the universal animal kingdom to the soul. 
' Thus I hope that by bending my course inward continually, 
I shall open all the doors that lead to her, and at length 
contemplate the soul herself, by the Divine permission.' ' 

5 * C» 



04 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

One of his manuscripts repeats this design in these words : 
"I have gone through anatomy with the single end of inves- 
tigating the soul. It will be a satisfaction to me if my labors 
be of any use to the anatomical and medical world, but a 
still greater satisfaction if I afford any light towards the 
investigation of the soul." 

In striving to compass such high spiritual knowledge, by 
merely natural means, he necessarily failed. In one of his 
books, written several years after, when a brighter light had 
dawned upon his mind, he says : " Many in the learned world 
have laboured in investigating the soul, but as they knew 
nothing of the spiritual world, and of the state of man after 
death, they could not do otherwise than construct hypotheses, 
not respecting the soul's nature, or its operation on the body. 
Of the soul's nature, they could have no other idea than as 
of something most pure in ether, and of its continent as of 
ether. Now having such a conception of the soul, and yet 
knowing that the soul acts on the body, and produces every- 
thing in it that has relation to sense and motion, therefore 
they labored, as we before observed, to investigate the 
soul's operation on the body, which some said was effected 
by influx, and some by harmony. But these means dis- 
covered nothing in which the mind desirous of seeing the 
ground of things, can acquiesce." We have in these sen- 
tences the cause of the fruitlessness of his own labors at 
this period, in their highest aims. They formed, however, 
a part of that providential discipline which was fitting him 
for his future office. 

Fruitless though these works necessarily were, in their 
highest aim, yet in lower ends they are treasure-houses of 
thought and suggestion. Taking for his basis the dry facts 
of the anatomists, he proceeds to clothe them with life and 
comeliness. He shows how part is bound to part in the 
human system, and fills the cold details of science with a 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 55 

warm and human interest. Emerson well says: "The 
'Animal Kingdom' is a book of wonderful merits. It 
was written with the highest end, to put science and 
soul, so long estranged from each other, at one again. It 
was the anatomist's account of the human body in the 
highest style of poetry; and nothing can exceed the bold 
and brilliant treatment of a subject usually so dry and 
repulsive." 

It was hardly possible for books to be ushered into the 
world to die more quietly than did these physiological 
treatises. Slightly noticed in a few catalogues and reviews 
of that day, they were laid on the shelf, and reposed in dust 
and forgetfulness for a full century. Called to other thoughts 
and higher labors, their author was arrested midway in his 
plans; and ceasing to exist behind his books, and by his 
life, conversation, and activity, to keep up the public interest, 
the world soon forgot their existence. But their worth has 
been their preservative; and now we behold their resurrec- 
tion, and slow, but certain, growth into acceptance and 
fame. Translated by Wilkinson, and enriched by him with 
prefaces which Emerson describes as "throwing all the 
contemporary philosophy of England into the shade," they 
are now placed before the world, and, in their excellence 
serve to manifest the profound understanding and genius 
of their author. / 

In 1745, Swedenborg terminated his long series of scientific 
works, by the publication, in London, of "The Worship and 
Love of God." This book is an embodiment, in a story, 
of its author's scientific doctrines. In a connected narrative, 
it treats of the origin of the earth, the birth, infancy, and 
love, of Adam; and of the soul in its state of integrity, in 
the image of God. It is a book of which little need be said, 
as it was probably written as much for an exercise of fancy, 
as with any serious intent. Cast into shade, as it is, by the 



66 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

brighter light of his after knowledge, it remains to mark the 
point of intellectual development at which Swedenborg had 
at this time arrived; and in this respect it will always have 
a strong interest to those who delight in tracing the growth 
and education of his mind. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 57 



CHAPTER VII. 
Sis TAfe, as a JM Ean of Science, ends. 

The biographer of Swedenborg can feel no difficulty in 
distributing under proper heads the principal events of his 
life. It divides itself so distinctly into two parts, at this 
juncture, that, between his past and his future there is what 
he himself would call a "discrete degree." 

In 1745, when the merely scientific phase of Swedenborg's 
life closed, he had arrived at the mature age of fifty-seven 
years. As we have seen, he had, from early manhood, 
united an active and practical, with a deeply philosophic, 
life. An earnest student of nature, he had never become so 
engrossed in thought as to forget the end of all thought — the 
improvement and the happiness of mankind. His long 
series of scientific works had gained him a wide-spread rep- 
utation, and wherever he went, he was hailed as a friend 
and brother by the thoughtful and philosophical. In Swe- 
den, as before said, he was well connected ; and had he been 
desirous to live at home, and immerse himself in the cares 
and politics of his country, he might have reached the high- 
est offices and honors which royalty could confer. At the 
age of fifty-seven, with Swedenborg's attainments, success, 
and fame, a worldly man might have been content. Such 
a one would, probably, have taken his ease, reposed upon 
the past, and have been content with the competence of 
comfort and reputation which he had attained. But Swe- 
denborg was a man of a very different character. Love of 



58 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

ease formed no part of his constitution, and if he had not 
been led by the hand of Providence to the contemplation 
of the spiritual world and its glorious realities, he would, to 
the end of his life, have remained a zealous and single-eyed 
seeker after the truths of the natural world. 

The annals of science do not furnish an instance of 
any one who surpassed Swedenborg in that humility of 
spirit, and that simple desire for truth, which is the crown- 
ing grace and glory of the true philosopher. Although, at 
times, he propounded views which he knew were antagonis- 
tic to the ideas of some of the leading savans of his time, 
yet we never find him getting angry or attempting to scold 
the world into belief with him. He simply lays down what 
he believes to be the truth ; and with the most charming 
modesty trusts for its acceptance among men, to its agree- 
ment with reason and facts. Full of this trustful spirit we 
find him saying in the " Principia :" " In writing the present 
work, I have not aimed at the applause of the learned world, 
nor at the acquisition of a name or popularity. To me, it 
is a matter of indifference whether I win the favorable opin- 
ion of every one, or of no one ; whether I gain much or no 
commendation. Such things are not objects of regard to 
one whose mind is bent on truth and true philosophy. 
Should I, therefore, gain the assent or approbation of others. 
I shall receive it only as a confirmation of my having pur- 
sued the truth. I have no wish to persuade any one to lay 
aside the principles of those illustrious and talented authors 
who have adorned the world, and in place of their princi- 
ples to adopt mine. For this reason it is, that I have not 
made mention so much as of one of them, or even hinted at 
his name, lest I should injure his feelings, or seem to impugn 
his sentiments, or to derogate from the praise which others 
bestow upon him. If the principles I have advanced have 
more of truth in them than those which are advocated by 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 59 

others ; if they are truly philosophical, and accordant with 
the phenomena of nature, the assent of the public will fol- 
low in due time, of its own accord ; and in this case should 
I fail to gain the assent of those whose minds, being prepos- 
sessed by other principles, can no longer exercise an impar- 
tial judgment, still I have those with me who are able to 
distinguish the true from the untrue, if not in the present, 
at least in some future age. Truth is unique, and will speak 
for itself. Should any one undertake to impugn my senti- 
ments, I have no wish to oppose him ; but in case he desire 
it, I shall be happy to explain my principles and my reasons 
more at large. What need, however, is there of words? 
Let the thing speak for itself. If what I have said be true, 
why should I be eager to defend it? Surely truth can de- 
fend itself. If what I have said be false, it would be a 
degrading and silly task to defend it. Why then should I 
make myself an enemy of any one, or place myself 
in opposition to any one?" And again, in the "Econ- 
omy," he remarks: "Of what consequence is it to me 
that I should persuade any one to embrace my opinions? 
/Let his own reason persuade him. I do not undertake this 
( work for the sake of honor or emolument; both of which I 
shun rather than seek, because they disquiet the mind, and 
because I am content with my lot ; but for the sake of truth, 
which alone is immortal." These are long extracts, but they 
are well worthy of citation, alike for their own intrinsic truth 
and beauty, and for the illustration they afford of the spirit 
and sentiments of their author. 

/"The little thought he gave in after years to his scientific 
writings, and the little care he seemed to have lest the world 
should forget them, is very evident from his subsequent 
writings, in which they are scarcely alluded to. Some of 
the friends he made in the latter portion of his life, appear 
to have had very faint ideas of the extent of his achieve- 



60 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

ments in natural science. Count Hopken, a very intimate 
friend of his, for many years, remarks : " Swedenborg made 
surprising discoveries in anatomy, which are recorded some- 
where in certain literary Transactions." Thus it appears 
that he was entirely ignorant of the existence of Sweden- 
borg's great work, the "Animal Kingdom." What stronger 
proof could be given than this, of the sincerity with which 
the foregoing extracts were penned, in which he commits 
his works to the care of the God of truth, in humble acqui- 
escence in whatever verdict his justice might pronounce. 

Great and manifold were the merits of these scientific 
works; yet we should, perhaps, do well to look upon them, 
as their author seems to have done, as school-boy exercises. 
Through the severe training and development of the whole 
powers of his mind, by the composition of these works, his 
Divine Master was fitting him to gaze upon the awful reali- 
ties of the spiritual world, and to become a worthy exponent 
of the hidden wisdom of the Holy Scripture. 
/* It must, necessarily, be a matter of interest with many to 
know what were the religious opinions of Swedenborg at this 
period of his history. Occupying himself so intensely with 
natural science, it was hardly to be expected that theology 
could receive much of his attention. Among his posthumous 
papers, however, we find a little treatise on faith and good 
works, in which he comes to the wise conclusion that "there 
is no love to God if there be none to the neighbor;" or that 
"there is no faith if there be no works;" and therefore, that 
" faith without works is a phrase involving a contradiction." 
Throughout all his scientific writings we find a simple and 
open assent to the primary truths of religion, and a constant 
endeavor to confirm some truth of religious doctrine by the 
natural facts which came under his notice. His religious 
views up to this time were generally such as the Christian 
world held, with here and there a quiet dissent as to par- 



EMANUEL SWEDENBOKG. 61 

ticular points, and a strong tendency to eschew the merely 
theoretical and mystical belief, for the practical and active. 
We have his own testimony to the fact, that dogmatic and 
systematic theology formed no part of his otherwise exten- 
sive reading; and thus he came to the study of the Word of 
God unperverted by the sophisms of creed-makers. Of the 
gentle and earnest piety of his soul, we have striking proof 
in his "Kules of Life:" 

1. Often to read and meditate on the Word of God. 

2. To submit everything to the will of Divine Providence. 

3. To observe in everything a propriety of behaviour, and 
to keep the conscience clear. 

4. To discharge with fidelity the functions of my employ- 
ment, and the duties of my office, and to render myself in 
all things useful to society. 

More need not be said on this head than that he kept 
these vows. 

/' We now close the first book of Swedenborg's life, and open 
the second. Emphatically his was a double life. So rich 
in thought and action were both parts, that either would 
have been reckoned sufficient to render him a remarkable 
man. The one life was an orderly and regular growth 
out of the other : the first was a providential preparation for 
the second. Carefully disciplined by thought and investiga- 
tion in the outer world, through a long series of laborious 
years, the curtain which separated the seen from the unseen 
was, for him, drawn aside, and his prepared eyes saw in clear 
sunlight those mysteries of life and spirit, which the best and 
wisest of men have most ardently desired to see. Let us, 
then, leave Swedenborg the Man of Science, and turn to him 
as the Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, the worthy exponent 
of the spiritual sense of the Word of God, and the announcer 
of the New Era in which reason and faith are to be at one, 
and men everywhere friends and brothers. 



62 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Mis Spiritual Sight opened, and the Conditions of his Seership, 

We will now proceed, without circumlocution, to lay be- 
fore our readers, in all its fullness, the claim which Sweden- 
borg made, at this period, to open intercourse with the spiritual 
world, under the sanction and protection of the Lord. This 
assumption runs through the whole of his after life, and 
without a clear idea of its nature and conditions, we shall be 
unable rightly to appreciate aught else that follows. In one of 
his letters, he says, '/I have been called to a holy office by the 
Lord himself, who most graciously manifested himself to me, 
his servant, in the year 1743, when he opened my sight to a 
view of the spiritual world, and granted me the privilege of 
conversing with spirits and angels, which I enjoy to this day. 
From that time, I began to print and publish various arcana 
that have been seen by me, or revealed to me; as respecting 
heaven and hell, the state of man after death, the true wor- 
ship of God, the spiritual sense of the Word, with many 
other most important matters conducive to salvation and 
true wisdom." Again, in the preface ifr his work entitled, 
"Arcana Coelestia," he writes: " Of the Lord's Divine mercy, 
it has been granted me now for several years to be constantly 
and uninterruptedly in company with spirits and angels, 
hearing them converse with each other, and conversing with 
them. Hence it has been permitted me to hear and see 
stupendous things in the other life, which have never before 
come to the knowledge of any man, nor entered his imagina- 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. bd 

tion. I have there been instructed concerning different 
kinds of spirits, and the state of souls after death ; concern- 
ing hell, or the lamentable state of the unfaithful; concern- 
ing heaven, or the most happy state of the faithful ; and par- 
ticularly concerning the doctrine of faith which is acknow- 
ledged throughout all heaven." 

We are aware that these pretensions will be received by 
many with ridicule, and by some with contempt, arising 
from a distaste for spiritual subjects ; while by a few they 
will be treated with respectful attention. All that we ask, 
is, a little patience; and to readers of every class, we would 
say, — Do not be hasty; do not prejudge the matter; condemn 
not till you are conversant with the whole circumstances 
of the case. Swedenborg's claim, we admit, does appear 
startling; but to greet its announcement with the laugh 
of scepticism, and to deny its validity, as many do, without 
an attempt at examination, is anything but philosophical — 
is anything but righteous. 

No reader of this sketch can have failed to perceive the 
high philosophical genius, and perfect truthfulness of Swe- 
denborg; and all must agree with us in believing that wilful 
deception was an impossibility with such a man. No 
explanation of what Swedenborg himself calls the opening 
of his spiritual sight, can be offered, that is more trans- 
parently ridiculous than that of imposture. The degree 
of vehemence with which some have preferred this charge 
against him, may be taken as an accurate index of their 
ignorance of the man, or of their inability to discern a 
truthful and earnest spirit. 

No denial of the possibility of such spiritual vision as is 
claimed by Swedenborg, can be accepted from the Christian. 
Such denial is alone the privilege of the professed materialist. 
AVe all know how much of our loved and common faith 
rests on claims that are quite as startling as those of Sweden- 



64 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

borg. From the visions of Abraham to those of John in 
Patmos, the whole Scriptural narrative is interwoven with 
supernatural incident. Now, how is it that we yield such 
ready faith to whatever is related in Scripture, however 
marvelous, and have so much wonder to spare over the 
unbelieving Jews? The Rev. O. Prescott Hiller, in a short 
memoir of Swedenborg, prefixed to a collection of "Gems" 
from his writings, has some very apposite remarks on this 
subject. He says: "Swedenborg states that there are three 
heavens; so does Paul, for he speaks of the 'third heaven. 
Swedenborg affirms, calmly, that his spiritual senses were 
opened and elevated in such a manner that he might have a 
perception of that state of existence, and see and hear what 
is there. So does Paul. Swedenborg states that he had, in 
spirit, been permitted to behold the Lord: so does Paul: — 
'Have I not seen,' said he, 'Jesus Christ our Lord?' (1 Cor. 
ix. 1.) Thus parallel are the cases. But, exclaims the 
prejudiced observer: 'Paul! Paul! Paul was an apostle! 
Paul was one of the founders of the Christian Church! 
Paul lived eighteen hundred years ago! There are no 
visions now-a-days! The case is entirely different!' To 
these exclamations it may be replied: Your last remark is 
but a begging of the question under consideration. We 
affirm that though indeed unfrequent, yet there are occasion- 
ally spiritual visions in these times, as well as in former, 
and that there is good and very strong testimony that a 
remarkable case of the kind exists in the instance of this 
philosopher, Swedenborg, not by any means on account 
of his own declaration merely, but from the nature of the 
truths and statements brought forth by him, of which our 
own minds, enlightened, we trust, by reason and God's 
Word, are the judges. The burden of proof — it may be 
continued in answer — falls upon you to show by what law 
of Divine order, by what change in the character and 



EMANUEL SWEDENBOR«. 65 

structure of man's mind, a spiritual vision can not exist 
now, as well as in the time of Paul, — in the eighteenth or 
nineteenth, as well as in the first century. The truth is, 
antiquity has a wonderful charm for the mind, and a great 
power over it: 'distance lends enchantment to the view.' 
It is not difficult to believe anything, however wonderful, to 
have taken place in that misty and mysterious region, the 
distant past; but now in these dull, common times, to believe 
such strange things to be capable of happening, seems absurd. 
But do you not suppose that those times, to the men then 
living, appeared as dull and common-place as our times to 
us? Did not the regardless rain fall on Paul's head, as well 
as on yours and mine? and this very sun and moon light 
his steps as well as ours? Did not Paul, do you think, rise 
often in the morning with a heavy heart, and after breakfast, 
go forth to his duties, or sit down to write his epistles, sad 
and oppressed in spirit, dejected at the thought of the heavy 
responsibilities upon him, and awed with the idea that he 
must address the Athenians to-morrow? And when at 
length he stood before them and began, did they not ask : 
'Who is this?' Think you that gaping crowd knew anything 
about any great and celebrated Paul, whose name has become 
so familiar to our ears? They had not heard of such a 
person. 'And some said, What will this babbler say? others, 
He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods ; because he 
preached to them Jesus, and the resurrection. And when 
they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; 
and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. 
Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed; among 
whom was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named 
Damaris, and others with them.' (Acts xvii. 16-34.) Here 
we have a picture of human nature, as it was, and as it still 
is. A new person comes forward, a stranger, unheard of 
before, and utters strange ideas, something new and unusual, 



66 OIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

something different from what men have been accustomed 
to hear, and think of, and believe; most of the hearers jeer 
and mock, and turn away, calling him a babbler; some are 
rather pleased at some things they have heard, but the 
interest has not taken sufficient hold of them to make them 
anxious to pursue the subject farther just now, and they go 
away and forget what they have heard ; a few, whose minds 
were in a receptive state, whose hearts had been prepared, 
perhaps, by torturing doubts, and secret meditations, and by 
trials and sufferings of spirit — these at once perceive and 
seize upon the truths they have heard, clasp them to their 
bosoms as something long looked for, as precious treasure, 
and go away rejoicing in their new faith, and resolved to sell 
all they have and follow the Lord. Gradually the truth 
spreads; these few tell what they have heard to others, their 
friends, who they know have been troubled with similar 
doubts and difficulties. By and by these believers meet 
together and form a little congregation, and appoint the 
ablest of their number to preach to them in regard to these 
new truths, both for their own fuller instruction and for the 
information of strangers. Years roll away. It becomes an 
established religious society. Similar societies in neighboring 
cities league with them ; and they form a General Church, 
which begins to have a name — the ' Christian Church/ Ages 
roll on, and this becomes a vast establishment, extending 
over whole nations, and reaching to distant quarters of the 
globe. This Paul, who was once a nameless preacher, 'a 
babbler,' and 'mad,' is now looked back upon with the 
utmost veneration ; his words are oracles of truth ; whatever 
he affirmed, whether in regard to himself or others, is 
implicitly believed. Custom, general acceptance, the belief 
of ages, undoubting confidence in the opinions of our parents 
and friends, all go to render the mind perfectly ready to 
believe those things. Faith is now an easy and natural 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 67 

thing, and we wonder at those strange and hard-hearted 
unbelievers of Paul's own time, who had the glorious oppor- 
tunity of listening to him with their own ears. 'Oh! that 
we could have enjoyed such an opportunity,' exclaim many, 
1 how gladly would we have listened !' 

" But these persons know not what they say, nor the na- 
ture of the human mind. If they are so anxious to have 
such an opportunity, so ready to be tested, and to show that 
they would have discernment enough to see genuine truth, 
though heard for the first time, and to acknowledge a great 
teacher and apostle, though yet unknown to the world — that 
opportunity is now before them. A Paul is again preaching 
to the Athenians and to the world. A great teacher is again 
uttering new and sublime truths. The Lord Himself has 
come a second time, not in Person, but in Spirit ; not as the 
'Word made flesh,' as before, but as the essential Word, by 
the opening of the interior truth — the spiritual sense — which 
it contains. Those who believe, that, had they been on 
earth, they would have acknowledged the Lord at His First 
Coming, or would have readily received the teachings of 
His Apostles, have now the opportunity of making trial of 
their faith ; of showing whether they are able to overcome 
the inveteracy of custom, the natural opposition of prejudice, 
the fear of public opinion, the love of the world and its 
powers and pleasures, (all which difficulties the first Chris- 
tians had to encounter,) whether, in the face of all these, 
they can, looking for the truth with a single eye, discern it 
now at its feeble dawn ; and, advancing steadily and earn- 
estly towards it, be among the first to hail the rising day." 

What more can be said on the subject ? The Christian 
has no choice but to acknowledge, or refute, Swedenborg's 
claims on the ground of their own intrinsic merit. 

Swedenborg was gifted with peculiar powers of respira- 
tion. From early childhood, when on his knees at praye^ 



68 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

*and afterwards when engaged in profound meditation, he 
found that his natural respiration was for the time suspended. 
As we have seen in his work on the "Animal Kingdom," 
his attention to the correspondence between thought and re- 
spiration had been of long continuance, — probably from the 
fact that his own system supplied him with such constant 
illustrations of its nature. This power of suspended respira- 
tion under deep thought, common to all men, was preternat- 
urally developed in Swedenborg. At this period he discovered 
the use to which these peculiar powers of his were to be 
applied; for he writes : "My respiration has been so formed 
by the Lord, as to enable me to breathe inwardly for a long 
period of time, without the aid of the external air ; my re- 
spiration being directed within, and my outward senses, as . 
well as actions, still continuing in their vigor, which is only 
possible with persons who have been so formed by the Lord. 
I have also been instructed that my breathing was so directed, 
without my being aware of it, in order to enable me to be 
with spirits, and to speak with them." Those who have 
studied mesmerism and clairvoyance know many facts that 
confirm and illustrate this position of Swedenborg's with 
regard to respiration ; and it is quite evident that the Hindoo 
Yogi are capable of a similar state. There is this great dif- 
ference, however, between such instances and the case of 
Swedenborg, that nis powers were natural, and continuous 
in their exercise, and not sought after and induced by him- 
self; while theirs are only occasional, and are frequently 
brought about by artificial means. 

Swedenborg's intromission into the spiritual world was a 
gradual process ; and for this reason the date of his illumi- 
nation is variously given, ranging between 1743 and 1745. 
It appears, however, that he came into the full exercise of 
his spiritual seership while living in London. 
* Of late years it has become common to talk of Sweden- 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 69 

borg as a clairvoyant, to associate him with mesmeric 
subjects, and make him a kinsman of French and American 
spiritualists, such as Cahagnet, and Andrew Jackson Davis. 
This mistake is made through ignorance. It is a law of the 
spiritual world that every man is associated with his like. 
Supposing, therefore, that any man's spiritual sight were 
opened, he would come into conjunction only with spirits 
like himself; that is, with those who would echo his own 
ideas and opinions, and repeat his own feelings. It is evi- 
dent, then, that in such a case the nature of the revelations 
are entirely dependent upon the character of the revelator, 
and in all cases must be suspiciously received by the lover 
of truth. Now Swedenborg claims to have been under the 
special protection of the Lord, and to have received the doc- 
trines he promulgated directly from Him, and not in any 
case from spirits. Of course, every one will decide for him- 
self a§"to"liow far he can receive this assertion; but it is well 
that all should be informed of the precise character of Swe- 
denborg's claim, and of his own testimony as to the source 
of his information. In his Diary, written about this time, 
he says, that "spirits narrate things wholly false, and lie. 
When spirits begin to speak with man, care should be taken 
not to believe them ; for almost everything they say is made 
up by them, and they lie; so that if it were permitted them 
to relate what heaven is, and how things are in heaven, they 
would tell so many falsehoods, and with such strong asser- 
tion, that man would be astonished; wherefore it was not 
permitted me, when spirits were speaking, to have any belief 
in what they stated. They love to feign. "Whatever may 
be the topic spoken of, they think they know it, and form 
different opinions about it, altogether as if they knew; and 
if man then listens and believes, they insist, and in various 
ways deceive and seduce." 

Any one who has paid attention to the phenomena of 



70 LIFE AND WRITINGS OE 

spirit-rapping, and to the communications received through 
clairvoyants from the world of spirits, and has observed the 
very Babel of contradictions uttered by these "mediums," 
will be able to appreciate the truth of the passage we have 
quoted, as well as our desire to draw a broad and distinct 
line between such and Swedenborg. 

It is a very natural question, and one often put by those 
unconversant with the nature of spiritual intercourse, how it 
happens that such a man as Swedenborg, sitting quietly in 
his chair, could see and speak with angels and spirits, and 
travel through vast spaces in the spiritual world. It is thus : 
Space and time are attributes of matter alone. Their ap- 
pearances do, indeed, exist in the spiritual world, but not as 
the fixed and mensurable things of our material sphere. 
Did not our subject forbid digression, it would be easy to 
bring this truth down to the comprehension of every one, by 
reference to a few items of experience which must at some 
time have fallen to the lot of all. We are all, as to our 
minds, in constant, though insensible, communion with 
spirits ; and from them we receive thoughts and feelings of 
every kind. A good man and a wicked man may be, as to 
the body, in the same room, while between their minds there 
may be the wide gulf that separated Dives and Lazarus. 
Now if the spiritual sight of these two men were opened, 
where would they be? One would be in heaven, and the 
other in hell; and that, too, without either moving from 
the place where he stood. It was in virtue of this principle 
of the spirit's perfect independence of space, that Sweden- 
borg, under the Divine guidance and protection, was led 
through spiritual societies of all kinds : and in his various 
works we have the record of the wondrous things thus heard 
and seen. 

Again, it may be asked: What is the nature of this 
spiritual sight so often referred to? In the words of Paul, 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 71 

we answer : " There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual 
body ;" and, as a consequence, there is a natural sight, and 
there is a spiritual sight. The natural body lives from the 
spiritual body, and derives its form and parts from it. The 
natural body is the instrument of the spiritual body, and 
through it as a medium, it is enabled to exist in this lower 
world, and in constant contact with matter. Now it is pos- 
sible for the spiritual body to be raised partially above the 
natural body, without causing death, or the entire with- 
drawal of its life from the natural body. This partial with- 
drawal of the spiritual body, and the enjoyment of sight in 
the spiritual world, is what is meant by the opening of the 
spiritual sight. Time forbids us to draw upon the innumer- 
able illustrations of this fact which the history of the past 
and the experience of the present, in conjunction with the 
Word of God, afford. Let one instance from the Bible suf- 
fice. In 2 Kings, vii. 8-17, we read that Elisha, compassed 
about with horses, chariots, and a great host, sent by the 
king of Syria to seize him, was on a mountain with his ser- 
vant, who, full of terror, exclaimed: "Alas! my master, how 
shall w T e do? And he answered, Fear not, for they that be 
with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha 
prayed and said, Lord, I pray thee open his eyes, that he may 
see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and 
he saiv: and behold, the mountain was full of horses and 
chariots of fire round about Elisha." Here is a case quite 
to the point. The natural eyes of the young man were 
already open; for how otherwise could he have seen the 
Syrian host, and have been afraid? Elisha prayed that his 
eyes might be opened. What eyes? Why, clearly, the eyes 
of his spiritual body ; which done, he was enabled to perceive 
the heavenly guardianship which was extended over his 
master. Every one will now understand what we mean, 



72 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

when we shall have occasion to speak of the opening of 
man's spiritual sight. 

Having thus denned the conditions of Swedenborg's 
spiritual vision, and cleared away some questions which, if 
answered, would have impeded our narrative, we will now 
proceed with our history. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 73 



CHAPTER IX. 

Prepares for his New Office— Resigns his Assessorship — Sis " Ad- 
versaria"— His " Spiritual Diary"— The Death of Polheim. 

Called to a high and holy office, Swedenborg set about 
preparing himself for the fulfilment of its duties. Leaving 
London in the beginning of July, 1745, he took ship for 
Sweden, where he arrived on the 7th of August. On this 
voyage, his spiritual intercourse was suspended. He lived 
quietly at home during 1746 ; probably in the performance 
and enjoyment of the settled routine of his Assessorship, and 
in earnest meditation on the heavenly arcana now fully 
opened to his view. In 1747, in order that he might be 
more at liberty to devote himself to the mission to which the 
Lord had called him, he asked leave of King Frederick to 
retire from his Assessorship, and that he might enjoy, during 
life, as a retiring pension, half of his official salary ; request- 
ing, at the same time, that no addition to his rank or title 
might be conferred upon him. The King yielded to his 
wishes; but in consideration of his long and faithful ser- 
vice of thirty-one years, continued to him the whole of his 
salary. 

Meanwhile, he learned Hebrew, and read the Bible through 
several times in its original languages. Like all true stu- 
dents, he read and thought with pen in hand ; and as the 
hidden and Divine wisdom of the Word was opened to him, 
he embodied in " Adversaria," or notes, the truths thus re- 
vealed. These Adversaria extend over the historical books 
7 D 



74 LIFE AND WRITINGS OX 

of the Old Testament, and several of the prophets. They 
have all been printed of late years, from their author's orig- 
inal Latin manuscript, by that indefatigable and learned 
Newchurchman, Dr. Tafel, of Tubingen. They have not 
yet been translated into English, probably because they were 
not published by Swedenborg himself, and are only to be re- 
garded as preparatory studies for future works. They also 
abound with indistinct views on many subjects, which subse- 
quent knowledge rendered clear. As records of their au- 
thor's spiritual progress, as well as for the many valuable 
facts which they contain, it is to be hoped that the day is not 
far distant when the " Adversaria" will appear in an English 
dress. We cannot spare anything which serves to illustrate 
the mental history of such a man as Swedenborg. 

In 1747, he ceased writing his " Adversaria," and com- 
menced a Spiritual Diary, which he continued for twenty 
years. This Diary, written also in Latin, (as all his theolog- 
ical works were,) has been lately published by Dr. Tafel in 
ten closely printed octavos. Two volumes have been trans- 
lated and published in England and America, and the re- 
mainder will probably soon follow. It will hardly be neces- 
sary for us to go into a detailed account of the principles 
and facts scattered throughout its long and miscellaneous 
record. "We shall meet with all the leading ideas in noticing 
the books published by himself, and laid before the world as 
matured and finished productions. It may be said, however, 
that the " Diary," as a work, is perfectly unique ; for in no 
literature can we find its counterpart. We have in it, for 
twenty years, an almost daily record of Swedenborg's spirit- 
ual states and temptations ; his interviews and conversations 
with angels, spirits, and devils ; and accounts of their pleas- 
ures, punishments, and thoughts. No one who makes an 
intimate acquaintance with this "Diary," will ever after 
allow a shadow of doubt to cross his mind as to the candor 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 75 

and truth of Swedenborg ; for in every" page, lie will perceive 
that quiet and solemn earnestness which belongs alone to the 
upright and honest in heart. In its whole range of experi- 
ence, he will detect no vanity, shuffling, double-dealing, or 
anything inconsistent with his published works ; but all as 
straightforward, open, and unreserved, as truth itself. Al- 
though written in the quietude of his own study, and for his 
own eye and use alone, he could not have been more inge- 
nuous and sincere had the whole universe been looking down 
upon its pages. 

On the page of history, the " Diary" throws some won- 
drous light. In it, we read of interviews with many of the 
famous men of ancient and modern times. From some 
names which the world has learned to revere, the mask of 
excellence is quite torn away, while the infamy of others is 
proved to have been but judgment from appearance, and 
from scandal. Any one who is infected with the spiritual 
disease of hero-worship, should read the " Spiritual Diary." 
He will there discover that the most dazzling intellect fades 
into moping idiocy and insanity, when it lacks the sterling 
heart, and honest aim ; and that goodness alone is the life 
and soul of true wisdom. He will also learn why it is so. 

We would here say a word upon a jest started by Emer- 
son, (and which has re-appeared under many forms,) to the 
effect that all the souls with whom Swedenborg held con- 
verse, talked Swedenborgese. In reply, we would ask, how 
they could speak in any other way ? Swedenborg did not 
profess to be a mimic ; and if Cicero or anybody else spoke 
with him in the spiritual world and in the spiritual lan- 
guage, Swedenborg, in translating the speech into his own 
simple diction, would, of course, seize the substance, and 
care nothing for the form. That the language was not 
Cicero's, might be true ; but if the ideas were, what matter? 
The subject would hardly be worth mentioning, did we not 



<0 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

see the jest receiving a wide currency ; but a few words of 
common sense are all that are necessary to take the life out 
of it. 

There is no work with which we are acquainted, that can 
give its readers a better idea of the reality of the future life, 
than the "Spiritual Diary." No other book, we know, can 
so stir up a man to set his mind, or spiritual house, in order 
here, so that he may be spared the turmoil and sorrow which 
otherwise he will encounter beyond the tomb. In its pages, 
the life after death is portrayed in all its stern reality; not 
as a vague dream, or a shadowy vision, of which the mind 
can form no fixed idea. We read of the awful states induced 
in the other life, by evil habits contracted in this ; from loose 
speech, jesting upon sacred subjects, indulgence in idleness 
and luxury, down to blacker crimes. We learn from sight, 
as it were, how evil is its own torment, and how goodness 
is its own sweet and rich reward; and in view of the 
momentous issues of what we too often regard as the trifles 
of life, we feel impelled to make our peace and heaven here, 
that we may bear them with us into the Hereafter. Such 
high uses does the "Spiritual Diary" subserve. 

The "Diary" is, however, a work not suited for an early 
student of Swedenborg. The principles upon which it is 
written, not being understood, a young reader could hardly 
fail to form erroneous ideas from it, and misjudge the work 
itself. It is only after some acquaintance with the spiritual 
laws expounded in Swedenborg's theological writings, that it 
can be read with profit. Incidents, which, at first sight, 
might appear ridiculous and irrational, are brought within 
the pale of reason and belief when the laws upon which they 
are founded are understood; and as effects, not causes, con- 
stitute the burden of the "Diary," the need of this caution 
will be apparent. When, however, the laws of spiritual life 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 77 

are understood, the "Diary" becomes a work of peculiar 
and most profitable instruction. 

While Swedenborg was living in Sweden, in 1751, his old 
friend and coadjutor, Polheim, died; and Swedenborg was 
favored with a view of both sides of his grave. Writing in 
his "Spiritual Diary," he says: "Polheim died on Monday, 
and spoke with me on Thursday. I was invited to the 
funeral. He saw the hearse, the attendants, and the whole 
procession. He also saw them let down the coffin into the 
grave, and conversed with me while it was going on, asking 
me why they buried him, when he was alive. And when 
the priest pronounced that he would rise again at the day 
of judgment, he asked why this was, when he had already 
risen. He wondered that such a belief should prevail, 
considering that he was even now alive; he also wondered 
at the belief in the resurrection of the body, for he said he 
felt that he was in the body : with other remarks." Such a 
relation will seem strange, very strange to many. But have 
patience. When the laws and principles upon which such 
phenomena take place, are comprehended, all their strange- 
ness and improbability will straightway disappear. 
7 * 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



CHAPTER X. 
The Arcana Coelestia. 

It was about the middle of 1749, that Swedenborg made 
his first appearance as a theologian, by the publication of the 
first volume of the "Arcana Coelestia." At the beginning 
of 1750, we find his publisher, John Lewis, of Paternoster 
Row, announcing the issue of the second volume, in cheap 
numbers, both in English and Latin. The issue continued 
in volumes till 1756, when the work was completed in eight 
good sized quartos. His publisher states in one of his 
advertisements, that though he is "positively forbid to dis- 
cover the author's name, yet he hopes to be excused for 
mentioning his benign and generous qualities." He avers 
that "this gentleman, with indefatigable pains and labor, 
spent one whole year in studying and writing out the first 
volume of the 'Arcana/ was at the expense of £200 to print 
it, and advanced £200 more for the printing of the second; 
and when he had done this, he gave express orders that all 
the money that should arise in the sale, should be given 
towards the charge of the propagation of the gospel. He is 
so far from desiring to make a gain of his labors, that he 
will not receive one farthing back of the £400 he has 
expended; and for that reason his works will come exceed- 
ingly cheap to the public." 

The "Arcana Coelestia" is an exposition of the books 
of Genesis and Exodus, with intervening chapters which 
describe the wonders of the future life. At the outset, it 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. <y 

will be necessary to state that Swedenborg believed the 
Bible to be the Word of God. "Well, .what Christian does 
not believe so?" it may be asked. Few expressions pass 
more glibly over the lips of religious people, than the short 
phrase, "the word of God;" but how many take time to 
consider its infinite meaning? The Word of God — a produc- 
tion of the infinite Father of all, the Creator and Sustainer 
of the universe, — must be infinitely superior to any human 
composition; and, like God's other volume, the book of 
nature, must yield up fresh wonders to every investigator; 
and the more it is searched into, the more real unceasing 
beauties of wisdom and design, till at length the strained 
intellect of man finds its truest wisdom lies in the deepest 
humility and adoration. Thus logically thinking, we expe- 
rience a serious reverse when we turn to the opinions expressed 
regarding the Word by even its most reverential commenta- 
tors. At no period of history has the Bible been submitted 
to more earnest study than in these times ; but the results 
have been in the highest degree meagre and unworthy, when 
placed in comparison with the same exercise of mind on the 
subjects of natural creation. We have most elaborate and 
minute criticisms on the sacred text; we have treatises on 
the animals, the insects, and the vegetables mentioned in the 
hallowed record; we have books filled with descriptions of 
domestic life among the Jews, their customs, and their 
language; the prophecies have been subjected to all manner 
of ingenious interpretation, but after all, with the poorest 
spiritual results, and such as can in no wise excite a deeper 
respect, or a warmer love, for God's holy Word, than was 
entertained centuries ago, when such learning was a rarer 
thing. Yet if we believe that God inspired this Book, can 
we for a moment suppose that it should have no other end 
than the narration of the history of a petty people, and the 
enunciation of dark prophecies, which the acutest of men 



80 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

pronounce impenetrable mysteries, and which the daring 
and the foolish turn to all manner of profane purposes in 
political soothsayings? If the Bible be indeed the Word 
of God, it must contain within itself much more than the 
majority of Christians suppose; otherwise it presents a most 
startling anomaly when viewed in comparison with the other 
Divine work, the natural universe. 

The assumption, then, with which Swedenborg starts, is, 
that the Scripture is in very truth the Word of God; that 
every syllable and expression therein are His ; that Moses, 
David, the prophets, and the Evangelists, were simply the 
inspired penmen, who wrote implicitly according to Divine 
dictation. 

He teaches, moreover, that the Word does not belong to 
men alone, but is the possession likewise of the angels of 
heaven, to whom it wears different forms according to the 
degree of their love and intelligence. In general, it may be 
said to have three senses, or meanings ; first, a celestial sense, 
apprehended by the celestial or highest angels; secondly, a 
spiritual sense, apprehended by a lower range of angelic 
minds, the spiritual; and thirdly, a natural sense, with which 
we are all familiar, written down to the comprehension of 
the lowest, most worldly, and sensual of men — the Jews. 
These three senses make one by correspondence; although 
diverse, they are still harmonious, and connected by one 
divine life. 

The Word, moreover, we are taught, has worn different 
garments, or varied natural senses, at different eras. The 
first church, Adam, o» the primeval race of men, did not 
possess a written Word, but were gifted with a perception 
of spiritual essences. Nature was literally spread before 
them as an open book. To them, Nature was the expression 
of the Divine Wisdom ; and they saw in every beast of the 
forest, in every flower of the field, and in every scene of ere- 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. , 81 

ation, evidence of the Divine presence, and material em- 
blems of spiritual and heavenly things. As men declined 
from purity, and, together with their innocence, lost their 
wisdom and their powers of celestial perception, a written 
Word became necessary, accommodated to the changed 
state of the new spiritual church called Noah. In time, 
this Word had also to be withdrawn, for its purity and lan- 
guage transcended the apprehension of a falling and sen- 
sualised world. Yet this Ancient Word, Swedenborg tells 
us, is not lost, but still exists in Tartary, probably as an un- 
valued treasure, which may be restored to the church in due 
season. To this Ancient Word, we have two allusions in 
the Jewish Scriptures ; the first in Numbers xxi. 14, where 
we read: "Wherefore it is said in the book of the Wars of 
Jehovah;" and the second in Joshua x. 13: "Is not this 
written in the book of Jasher?" The book of the Wars of 
Jehovah, and the book of Jasher, forming parts of the 
Ancient Word, became unintelligible from being written in 
high correspondential and emblematic language; and unin- 
teresting because not associated with the personal and 
worldly interests of men. The Jewish Scriptures were then 
written. The Divine Wisdom clothed itself in such words, 
histories, and laws, as the earthly-minded Jews could love 
and reverence, and thus be kept, in some measure, in con- 
nection with heaven, and in the possession of the most 
general and leading truths of religion. The Gospels, added 
in the course of time to the Jewish Word, served still 
further to preserve the church in union with heaven and the 
Lord. But now we see that mankind having in the course 
of centuries re-ascended to a higher degree of intellectual 
life, begin to be dissatisfied with the Scriptures, to arraign 
the truth of science against them, to wonder how it is possible 
that such writings can be the Word of God, and to ask, 
with Emerson, "What have I to do with jasper and sar- 



82 * LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

donyx, beryl and chalcedony, what with arks and passovers, 
ephahs, heave-offerings, and unleavened bread; what with 
chariots of fire, and ephods ; what with lepers and emerods ; 
what with dragons crowned and horned, behemoth and uni- 
corn?" But the Lord anticipates all man's wants; and, 
caring above all things for his spiritual well-being, never per- 
mits him to live without a witness of His love and designs 
towards him. By His Word, the Lord reveals himself to 
man; and without it, man could know nothing of God, of 
heaven and hell, and of a life after death. How necessary 
then it is that man be preserved from falling into contempt 
of its teachings ; and yet if it contains no other than a literal 
sense, what can a Christian say in reply to such questionings 
as those above quoted? and what tenable theory can be ad- 
vanced to meet the objections of the sceptic drawn from 
geology, astronomy, and many other sciences which clash 
with the letter of Scripture? In the "Arcana Coelestia," we 
find a solution of all such doubts in the clear manifestation 
of the Divine authorship of the Word, through the revela- 
tion of its spiritual sense, whereby reason and faith are per- 
fectly conjoined; and man, while here below, is fed with 
angels' food. 

But it is not to be concluded from this that Swedenborg 
in any way slights or undervalues the literal sense of the 
Word. Far from it. He says : " The literal sense of the 
Word is the basis, the continent, and the firmament of its 
spiritual and celestial senses; and hence in it the divine 
truth is in its fulness, its sanctity, and its power; therefore 
the doctrine of the church should be drawn from the literal 
sense, and confirmed thereby." From this, every one will 
see that no mysticism can be sheltered under a belief in the 
spiritual sense of the Word ; for, from the literal sense, de- 
termined by the severest criticism, all doctrine must be 
drawn, and all creeds tested. Swedenborg also teaches, that 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 83 

by means of the literal sense, men enjoy conjunction with 
the Lord ; for His divine spirit is with all who read his 
Word devoutly. To promote this divine communion, the 
letter of Scripture has been so framed as to possess a uni- 
versal interest. The child reads the Bible, and is delighted 
with its charming stories ; the simple cottager loves it and 
prizes it as he prizes no other book ; the poet draws from it 
his richest inspirations ; and the man of learning, who has 
gathered knowledge from all times and lands, turns to its 
hallowed page, and in the light of its divine wisdom sees 
himself but a child in knowledge. 

Though the Scriptures are thus marvellously adapted, in 
the literal sense, to the tastes, feelings, and necessities of men 
of all grades and states, yet, as before said, many portions 
of them do, in our days, require to be vindicated from the 
charge of being inconsistent with science — from the charge 
of insignificance, and dealing in petty details. They need, 
in fine, to be elevated from mere history, poetry, and obso- 
lete law, into practical use and connection with the daily life 
and conduct of every man and woman; so that they may be 
to us, in very deed, the Word of God, as truly as they were 
to the Jews three thousand years ago. 

Let us now see how, in the "Arcana Coelestia," all this is 
effected. 

" From the posterity of the most Ancient Church, Moses 
received what he wrote concerning the creation, the Garden 
of Eden, etc., down to the time of Abraham," writes Swe- 
denborg. Describing the method by which the people of 
that church expressed themselves, he adds: "When they 
mentioned earthly and worldly things, they thought of 
the spiritual and celestial things which they represented; 
so that they not only expressed themselves by representa- 
tives, but also reduced their thoughts into a kind of series, as 
of historical -particulars, in order to give them more life; and 



84 LIFE AND WHITINGS OF 

in this they found their greatest delight." Understanding 
this fully, we shall not be surprised to learn that the first 
eleven chapters of Genesis are purely allegorical; written not 
as a description of the creation of the material world, and 
its fortunes, but as a description of the internal life of the 
earliest people, of the development of their minds up to ce- 
lestial perfection, and then of their gradual declension from 
purity, their love of the evil and the false, and finally the 
destruction of their souls, symbolized by the deluge over- 
spreading the face of the whole earth. These chapters were 
thus written by the Lord in accommodation to the tastes of 
the men of the Ancient Church, who, as we read, had " their 
greatest delight in the expression of spiritual and celestial 
things in a series of historical particulars;" just as, in after 
times, He clothed His Wisdom in Jewish history and law, 
so that He might be with the Jews, and preserve within them 
some small remains of spiritual life. What a relief to the 
mind, torn and troubled with the thousand doubts which 
science has cast upon the early chapters of Genesis, is the 
acceptation of the truth of their entirely allegorical signifi- 
cation ! And how plainly, in their spiritual sense, do we 
find testimony of their divine authorship ! It should not be 
forgotten that the doctrine of the symbolical nature of these 
chapters, was set forth by Swedenborg long before science 
had demonstrated that their merely literal sense was wholly 
irreconcilable with the facts of nature ; thus quite independ- 
ently of any external pressure or necessity. It must be 
known to every one that geology — the science which, above 
all others, has brought the most weighty objections against 
the six days' creation, and the deluge of the whole earth by 
a flood which covered the tops of the highest mountains, — 
is a new science. At the time when Swedenborg wrote, it 
was entirely undeveloped. The reconciling of the literal 
sense of these chapters with the facts of geology, has per- 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 85 

plexed more minds, and engaged more intellect, than did 
ever perpetual motion and the squaring of the circle. The 
amount of speculation which has been expended upon this 
theme, is immense, as every one at all acquainted with the 
religious history of the last fifty years is aware ; and still 
the labor is vigorously prosecuted. We have no inclination 
to undervalue the motives that prompt to it. For all sin- 
cere lovers of the "Word of God we entertain the deepest re- 
spect, and rejoice to think that their faith in the Bible re- 
mains unshaken amid such fiery trials. Yet if Christians 
were wise and unprejudiced^ they would turn to Sweden- 
borg's " Arcana Coelestia," and there find all that heart or 
mind could wish. Its readers, who have been many, (and 
yet, when compared with the wide world of Christendom, 
insignificantly few,) have had, during all these seasons of 
doubt, the fullest peace ; and have been ready to welcome 
every truth of science, however militating against the literal 
sense of the early chapters of Genesis ; and all the while 
have remained such lovers of the Word as none but believ- 
ers in its spiritual sense can be. We believe that the relig- 
ious world will, in process of time, when all methods of 
reconciling the letter of Scripture with geology shall have 
manifestly failed, finally turn to Swedenborg ; and when the 
heavenly truth glowing in his pages shall beam upon their 
opened sight, they will wonder why they did not read his lu- 
minous volumes sooner. 

From the Call of Abram, the Word is to be looked upon 
as a narration of historical events. Yet while, as history, it 
possesses a great charm and interest to every mind, from its 
matchless and beautiful simplicity, we cannot see what claim 
it could have to the title of the Word of God, did it not 
contain within itself, as Swedenborg abundantly demon- 
strates, a spiritual sense, universally applicable to men in all 
states, times, and situations. In the highest or celestial 



00 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

sense, the Word refers solely to the Lord, and is a descrip- 
tion of his nature and attributes, of his assumption of cor- 
rupt humanity, and the process of its glorification. Man 
being formed in the Lord's image and likeness, whatever 
treats of Him, is, in a secondary sense, or in a lower degree, 
descriptive of man, his nature and regeneration. This 
secondary application of the Word forms its spiritual sense, 
which when understood, transforms Genesis and Exodus from 
mere history and dull ceremonial law, into a Divine revelation 
of the laws of spiritual life, pregnant with practical benefit to 
all men, because applicable to every incident and thought 
of life. 

Time and space would alike fail were we to attempt to 
give the most general outline of the multitude of spiritual 
truths which are unvailed in the course of the exposition of 
Genesis and Exodus; and not of these two books alone, but 
of passages from all parts of the Word, which are drawn 
upon to illustrate and confirm the truth of the interpreta- 
tion. As Wilkinson says, "Consider, gentle reader, twelve 
goodly 8vo volumes [in English,] written with such con- 
tinued power that it seems as if eating, drinking, and sleep- 
ing, had never intervened between the penman and his page, 
so unbroken is the subject, and so complete the sense. Add 
to the other health and harmony of this unflagging man, a 
memory of the most extraordinary grasp, which enabled him 
to administer the details of an intellect ranging through all 
truth on the one hand, and through the whole field of Scrip- 
ture illustration and text upon the other. Then take into 
account the unity of the work from first to last; the constant 
reference that binds all parts of it together, and shows the 
caution with which each strong affirmation is at first set 
down. Observe also the felicity of phrase, the happiness of 
mind, the easy greatness, which shine along and dignify 
those serious pages. Remark also, that the author does not 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 87 

deal in generalities, but sentence for sentence, and word for 
word, lie translates his text into spiritual meaning, and criti- 
cises and supports himself with nearly every parallel text in 
the sacred writings." 

The earnest reader of the "Arcana" will never question 
the reality of Swedenborg's mission. He would as soon 
question the reality of the world, or his own existence. This 
is a strong assertion, a stranger to the work will perhaps 
say ; but it is only a stranger to these wondrous volumes that 
will say so; for every one at all familiar with them will 
agree with us. We never take down a volume of the 
"Arcana" to read, without feeling more and more assured 
that Swedenborg was an anointed servant of the Lord. The 
depths of spiritual experience he reveals, his insight into the 
inmost recesses of the heart, his explanation of the causes 
of thoughts, and the origin of our various desires and incli- 
nations, of lowness of spirits, of pleasant and dull moods, in 
short, of all spiritual trials and temptations, with the hea- 
venly ends they are permitted to serve, together with a 
thousand other matters which it concerns us all to know, are 
of such a nature that we cannot but feel that such know- 
ledge must have been derived from a Divine source, and 
that unless his stand-point had been most peculiar, and pro- 
videntially appointed, it would have been impossible for him 
to have written as he has. To speak of the "Arcana" as it 
deserves, would, to one unacquainted with it, appear like 
exaggeration, while every reader would feel that we had 
fallen far short of the truth in many points. No criticism, 
however reverential, can adequately express the innumer- 
able and marvellous excellencies of the work; and should 
this feeble testimony to its worth excite any one to read and 
study it, — and it is a work which should be studied, if read 
at all, — we know that he will say, as the Queen of Sheba 
said of Solomon, " It was a true report that I heard of thy 



OS LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, 
until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and behold the 
half was not told me." 

We have not spoken of those chapters which come be- 
tween the expositions of Scripture, because the subjects 
therein treated of will recur in notices of his other books. 
They serve to diversify the work, and to relieve the mind 
tasked with the deep thought involved in the spiritual expo- 
sitions, by the contemplation of some of the leading facts 
of the future life. 

The "Arcana Coelestia" was translated into English by 
the late venerable John Clowes, a clergyman of the Estab- 
lished Church in Manchester, and a most cordial receiver 
and preacher of the doctrines of the New Church. It 
is published in twelve octavo volumes, with an index pre- 
pared by Swedenborg himself, which forms a thirteenth 
volume. This index has been greatly extended by Elihu 
Rich, filling two large octavos. Several editions of the "Ar- 
cana" have also been published in America; and the 
sale, considering the size and cost of the work, has been in 
both countries very considerable. It is a work which will 
in coming days run through many cheap editions ; and when 
that time shall come, many will wonder why such a treasury 
of spiritual wisdom lay so long in our midst, and yet men 
thought so little of it. But the world is approaching Swe- 
denborg as fast as steady progress will permit. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 



CHAPTER XI. 



Of Swedenborg's external life, during the composition 
of the "Arcana Coelestia," we know little. From his "Spir- 
itual Diary/' we incidentally learn that he was in Stockholm 
on the 23d of July, 1756. A revolution had been attempted, 
and the leaders of the conspiracy, Count Brahe and Baron 
Horn, were executed on that day. Swedenborg writes of 
Brahe thus: — "Brahe was beheaded at ten o'clock in the 
morning, and spoke with me at ten at night; that is to say, 
twelve hours after his execution. He was with me almost 
without interruption for several days. In two days' time, 
he began to return to his former life, which consisted in 
loving worldly things ; and after three days, he became as 
he was before in the world, and was carried into the evils 
that he had made his own before he died." (S. Diary, 5099.) 

Robsahm, a friend of Swedenborg's, probably alludes to 
this circumstance, when he writes : " One day as a criminal 
was led to the place of execution to be beheaded, I was by 
the side of Swedenborg, and asked him how such a person felt 
at the time of his execution. He answered: 'When a man 
lays his head on the block, he loses all sensation. When he 
first comes into the spiritual world, and finds that he is 
living, he is seized with the fear of his expected death, tries 
to escape, and is very much frightened. At such a moment 
no one thinks of anything but the happiness of heaven, or 
the misery of hell. Soon the good spirits come to him, and 



90 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

instruct him where he is, and he is then left to follow his 
own inclinations, which soon lead him to the place where he 
remains for ever.'" It appears that whatever happens at 
the hour of death, is carried into the other life, and the state 
is continued for some time. Thus we read in the "Spiritual 
Diary" of a person who had been reduced by melancholy 
to despair, until being instigated by diabolical spirits, he 
destroyed himself, by thrusting a knife into his body. " This 
spirit came to me," writes Swedenborg, "complaining that 
he was miserably treated by evil spirits. He was seen by 
me, holding a knife in his hand, as though he would plunge 
it into his breast. With this knife he labored very hard, as 
wishing rather to cast it from him, but in vain." 

It soon became widely known that Swedenborg had inter- 
course with spirits ; and many and various were the demands 
made upon him, for information of one kind and another. 
The Queen of Sweden asked him whether his spiritual 
intercourse was a science or art that could be communicated 
to others. He said: "No, it is the gift of the Lord." "Can 
you then," said she, "speak with every one deceased, or only 
with certain persons?" He answered, "I can not converse 
with all, but only with such as I have known in this world, 
with all royal and princely persons, with all renowned 
heroes, or great and learned men, whom I have known, 
either personally, or from their actions or writings; conse- 
quently with all of whom I could form an idea; for it may 
be supposed that a person whom I never knew, and of whom 
I could form no idea, I neither could or would wish to speak 
with." 

The Prince of Prussia was brother to the Queen of 
Sweden, and shortly after his death, Swedenborg being at 
court, the Queen perceiving him said: "Well, Mr. Assessor, 
have you seen my brother?" He answered, " No." Where- 
upon she replied : " If you should see him, remember me to 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 91 

him." In saying this, she did but jest. Eight days after- 
wards, Swedenborg came again to court, but so early that 
the Queen had not left her apartment called the white room, 
where she was conversing with her maids of honor, and 
other ladies of the court. Swedenborg did not wait for the 
Queen's coming out, but entered directly into her apartment, 
and whispered in her ear. The Queen, struck with astonish- 
ment, was taken ill, and did not recover for some time. 
After she was come to herself, she said to those about her: 
" There is only God and my brother who can know what he 
has just told me." She owned that he had spoken of her 
last correspondence with the prince, the subject of which 
was known to themselves alone. 

The following is narrated by J. H. Jung Stilling: — 
"About the year 1770, there was a merchant in Elberfeld 
with whom, during seven years of my residence there, I 
lived in close intimacy. He spoke little; but what he said 
was like golden fruit on a salver of silver. He would not 
have dared for all the world to have told a falsehood. His 
business requiring him to take a journey to Amsterdam, 
where Swedenborg at that time resided, and having heard 
and read much of this strange individual, he formed the 
intention of visiting him. He therefore called upon him, 
and found a very venerable looking, friendly old man, who 
received him politely, and requested him to be seated. 
Explaining his errand, and expressing his deep admiration 
of Swedenborg's writings, he desired that he would give him 
a proof of his intercourse with the unseen world. Sweden- 
borg said: 'Why not? Most willingly .' The merchant 
then proceeded to tell that he had formerly a friend, who 
studied divinity at Duisburg, where he fell into a consump- 
tion, of which he died. Visiting this friend a short time 
before his decease, they conversed together on an important 
topic. The question he then put to Swedenborg, was : l Can 



92 LIFE AND. WRITINGS OF 

you learn from the student what was the subject of our 
discourse at that time?' Swedenborg replied: 'We will see; 
what was the name of your friend?' The merchant told his 
name, and Swedenborg then requested him to call in a few 
days. Some days after, the merchant went again to see 
Swedenborg, in anxious expectation. The old gentleman 
met him with a smile, and said: 'I have spoken with your 
friend; the subject of your discourse was the restitution of all 
things.' He then related to the merchant, with the greatest 
precision, what he, and what his deceased friend, had main- 
tained. The merchant turned pale; for this proof was 
powerful and invincible. He inquired further: 'How fares 
it with my friend? Is he in a state of blessedness?' 
Swedenborg answered: 'No, he is not in heaven; he is still 
in the world of spirits, and torments himself continually 
with the idea of the restitution of all things.' He ejaculated: 
' My God ! What ! in the other world ?' Swedenborg replied : 
'Certainly; a man takes with him his favorite inclinations 
and opinions, and it is very difficult to be divested of them. 
We ought, therefore, to lay them aside here.' The mer- 
chant took his leave, perfectly convinced, and returned to 
Elberfeld." 

An ambassador from Holland, named Martville, died at 
Stockholm. After his death, a considerable sum of money 
was demanded of his widow in payment of a debt. She felt 
certain the debt had been paid, but was unable to find the 
receipt for the money. Being advised to consult Sweden- 
borg, who, she was told could converse with the dead when- 
ever he pleased, she adopted the advice, more from curiosity 
than from a belief in his powers. The lady called on Swe- 
denborg and told him her trouble ; and he promised if he 
met her husband in the spiritual world, he would inquire of 
him about the matter. Eight days afterwards Martville 
appeared to his wife in a dream, and mentioned to her a 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 93 

private place in his cabinet, where she would not only find 
the receipt, but also a hair pin set with twenty brilliants, 
which had been given up as lost. This happened about two 
o'clock in the morning. Full of joy, she arose and found 
them in the place designated. She returned again to rest, 
and slept till nine o'clock. About eleven Swedenborg was 
announced. His first remark, before Madame had time to 
speak, was, that he had, during the preceding night, seen 
several spirits, and among others her late husband. He had 
wished to converse with him, but Martville excused himself 
on the ground that he must go to discover to his wife some- 
thing of importance. This account, attested by the lady 
herself, was noised through all Stockholm. It may be added 
that Madame desired to make Swedenborg a handsome 
present for his services, which he, of course, declined. 

Sometimes Swedenborg's announcements of the states of 
the departed alarmed his auditors. We read of a case 
of this kind which took place on a voyage from Gottenburg 
to London. The vessel staying at Oresound, the Swedish 
Consul invited the officers of the custom house, together 
with several of the first people of the town, all anxious to 
see and know Swedenborg, to dine with him at his house. 
Being all seated at table, and none of them taking the lib- 
erty of addressing Swedenborg, who likewise was silent, the 
Consul thought it incumbent on him to break silence, and 
asked Swedenborg, as he could see and speak with the dead, 
whether he had seen Christian VI., King of Denmark, after 
his decease. To this he replied in the affirmative ; adding, 
that when he saw him the first time, he was accompanied 
by a bishop or other prelate, who humbly begged the King's 
pardon for the many errors into which he had led him by 
his counsels. A son of the deceased prelate happened to 
be present at the table : the Consul therefore fearing that 
Swedenborg might say something further to the disadvan- 



94 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

tage of the father, interrupted him, saying : " Sir, this is his 
son !" Swedenborg replied : " It may be, but what I am 
saying is true." 

Such anecdotes might be greatly multiplied, but space 
forbids. No one, perhaps, has a lower idea of the worth of 
these stories, as testimonies to Swedenborg's veracity, than 
the writer ; yet they could not well be omitted from an ac- 
count of his life. Gossip spread them far and wide in his 
own day, as is evidenced by the various forms in which they 
have come down to us ; and any biographer would fail in 
his duty did he not show how the common world of men 
dealt with, and regarded Swedenborg. These anecdotes also 
in some degree manifest what a kind, affable, simple, and 
honest man Swedenborg was. 

Having finished the "Arcana Coelestia," Swedenborg's pen 
yet knew no rest. In 1758 he published in London the five 
following works : — 1. An Account of the Last Judgment 
and the Destruction of Babylon ; showing that all the pre- 
dictions in the Apocalypse are at this day fulfilled ; being a 
relation of things heard and seen. 2. Concerning Heaven 
and its wonders, and concerning Hell, being a relation of 
things heard and seen. 3. On the White Horse mentioned 
in the Apocalypse. 4. On the Planets in our solar system, 
and on those in the Heavens ; with an acconnt of their in- 
habitants, and of their spirits and angels. 5. On the New 
Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrines, as revealed from 
heaven. Let us now examine these works in order. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORGL 95 



CHAPTER XII. 
The East Judgment 

To the early reader of Swedenborg's writings, few of his 
declarations appear stranger, at first, than his affirmation 
that the Last Judgment is past, that it took place in 1757. 
Yet although startling at first, it is a doctrine which, on 
closer acquaintance, readily comes within the grasp of reason 
and common sense ; and we discover that all its early strange- 
ness was owing to our having looked at it through the mist 
of prejudice and preconceived opinion. 

The treatise on the Last Judgment, (although, as to size, 
only a pamphlet,) is a most effective and masterly exposition 
of the nature of the end of the church, the new heavens, 
and the new earth of the Apocalypse. 

In the first place, it is shown that the day of the Last 
Judgment does not mean that of the destruction of the 
world; for neither the visible heaven nor the habitable 
earth will perish, but both will remain forever. The reason 
is. that the heaven of angels is formed from the human race, 
all angels having lived the life of men, and none having 
been so created ; and as the perfection of heaven increases to 
eternity with the increase of regenerate men from the world, 
it follows that the earth will never cease to exist, nor men to 
live and be born upon it. The world is the seminary of 
heaven. Heaven depends upon the world for its growth, 
increase, and perfection. Heaven could not exist without 
worlds. 



96 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

Heaven being formed from the human race, so likewise is 
Hell ; all devils and satans having at one time been men on 
this or some other earth. "That is not first which is spiritual, 
but that which is natural." 

These doctrines, it will be seen, militate against what are 
called orthodox opinions, which teach that angels were cre- 
ated before the world, and that no man can go to heaven or 
to hell before the time of the Last Judgment; when the 
souls of men having returned into their bodies, the visible 
world will be burned up ; the sun and moon be quenched in 
nature's night; and the stars, each surrounded with its own 
system of worlds, having first fallen upon this speck of a 
globe, are to be wiped out of existence. These common but 
crude and unscriptural ideas have afforded the best subjects 
for scoffing at the Christian religion which the skeptic could 
desire. For he triumphantly asks, How can so vast a hea- 
ven, and so many stars, with sun and moon, be destroyed 
and dissipated? And how can the stars fall from heaven 
upon the earth, when they are larger than the earth? How 
can men's bodies, eaten up by worms, consumed by putre- 
faction, scattered to all winds, absorbed by vegetation, and 
again incorporated into other men's systems, be re-collected 
for their souls? What is this day of Judgment? And has 
it not been expected for ages in vain? Together with many 
other such questions, all pertinent, but to which the church 
can give no rational answer. 

And yet ignorance on such subjects cannot be excused; 
for men might have known from the Word that heaven and 
hell are from mankind, and that man is raised up and lives 
immediately after death. Information on these subjects 
might have been obtained from the Lord's words to the thief 
upon the cross, " Verily I say unto thee. To-day shalt thou 
be with me in Paradise;" and from those which he spoke 
concerning the rich man and Lazarus, that the one went to 



EMANUEL SWEDENBOHG. 97 

hell, and spoke with Abraham, and that the other went to 
heaven ; and what the Lord told the Pharisees respecting the 
resurrection, that " God is not the God of the dead, but of 
the living." And then we see how inconsistent men are with 
themselves on these subjects. A worthy church-member, 
w 7 ho is a firm believer in the burning up of the world, and 
the resurrection of the dead at the Last Judgment, comes to 
his death-bed, and straightway all his doctrine passes into 
forgetfulness ; and he talks of going home to glory in heaven, 
and being within a few hours of the angels. He dies ; and 
his friends, as orthodox as himself, think of him as happy in 
heaven; and yet they profess to believe in the resurrection 
of his corrupt and diseased body. What strange incon- 
sistency is this ! But it is one of the marks of error, that it 
is always inconsistent with itself. 

The leading fact in Swedenborg's doctrine of the Last 
Judgment, is, that it takes place in the spiritual world, 
where all men congregate after death. A judgment takes 
place in the world of spirits whenever a church comes to its 
end; that is, when its charity, and consequently its faith is 
dead, and all things that remain are mere empty forms of 
life. A judgment took place at the end of the Jewish 
church. For proof of this, we need only turn to the Gospel of- 
John, (xii. 31,) where Jesus said: "Now is the judgment of 
this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out." 
We all know there was at that time no visible judgment in 
the natural world. Everything went on as before; yet, we 
learn from the Lord's own lips, that a judgment was ef- 
fected. 

It is a great mistake, and one which even the best of men 
labor under, to suppose that the soul of man exists alone, 
and independent of any influences but those that are external 
to him, and of which he is conscious. We would ask, Who 
ever saw a grain of matter independent of the law of gravi- 
9 E 



98 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

tation, — that cause which binds it to kindred matter with a 
bond as indestructible as its own existence ? It is the same with 
men's souls. ~No man lives independent of spiritual associa- 
tion. Place a man in the middle of some distant and deso- 
late island ; yet he is not alone. Around his soul are the 
spirits of those who have left the world before him, who love 
as he loves, and think as he thinks. The minds of men and 
spirits are most closely and intimately conjoined; for in the 
universe of mind, as in the universe of matter, there is no 
such thing as isolation and independency. And what can 
be more philosophical than such a doctrine? The laws of mat- 
ter represent the laws of spirit; in every particular there 
exists a perfect correspondence. As matter is everywhere 
bound to matter, and compacted in firm communion, so like- 
wise are the minds of men to be regarded as a universe of 
atoms, bound together by loves and affections. In meditat- 
ing on this subject, we must remember that spirit knows 
nothing of material space. 

The church had been declining from the days of the 
Apostles. Men had forsaken the pure spirit of the gospel, 
and had sought to hide their evils of life by doctrines and 
creeds formed from their own darkened understandings. 
The popedom had arisen ; and in the black night of the 
dark ages, had established its fearful assumptions, and blas- 
phemously invoked the name of the Highest to sanctify its 
crimes. The Reformation, the last flicker of an expiring 
candle, had indeed established free thought, but it failed in 
its highest aims ; and in the erroneous doctrine of justifica- 
tion by faith alone, had deadened the consciences of men, 
and extinguished all aspirations after spiritual life. Last 
and worst of all, Atheism reared its horrid front, and openly 
manifested itself; yet what of it was open and confessed, 
was as nothing to what lay concealed even under the vest- 
ments of the church. Toward the middle of the last cen- 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 99 

tury, Christendom had reached its lowest point of degrada- 
tion ; and any one who is anxious to test this affirmation of 
Swedenborg's, need only turn to the history and literature of 
that period, and observe the selfishness, the negation and 
ridicule of everything pure and spiritual, the gross ignorance, 
the licentiousness and intemperance, and in fact the reduc- 
tion of humanity to its lowest and most bestial condition. 
He will then understand the cry of the good, at that time, 
in the world of spirits, " How long, O Lord, holy and true, 
dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell 
on the earth ?" 

It is to be noted that from the time of the Lord's advent, 
when he effected the Judgment upon the Jewish church, 
there had been pouring into the world of spirits, in countless 
myriads, the souls of those who were full of evils and falsi- 
ties, and who, collecting around terrestrial humanity, lay as 
thick clouds between it and heaven. Forming themselves 
into societies by spiritual affinities, the reformed churches 
were in the middle ; the Romanists around them ; the Ma- 
hommedans in a still outer ring ; and the various Gentile 
nations constituted a vast circumference; while beyond all, lay 
the appearance of a sea as a boundary. Of the states of those 
associations, we have a most graphic picture in Swedenborg's 
treatise ; and no where else out of the Apocalypse, do we 
find a more thorough exposure of the internal atheism of 
the priests of Rome, their blasphemies and subtlety. But 
the time of the end had come ; the world groaned to be de- 
livered ; and the eyes of Swedenborg were favored to behold 
the process of the great redemption. 

The vast concourse of these spirits, formed into societies, 
is what is meant in the Revelation by the first heaven and 
the first earth which passed away. The manner in which 
these societies were dissolved, Swedenborg describes as fol- 
lows : — " Visitation was made by angels, and admonition 



100 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

given, and the good were singled out and separated by the 
heavenly ministers, agreeable to the Lord's words, ' He shall 
send his angels, and they shall gather together the elect from 
the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other f and 
again, 'All nations shall be gathered together before the Son 
of Man ; and he shall separate them one from another, as a 
shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats, and he shall set 
the sheep on the right hand, and the goats on the left.' " Then 
followed destruction. There were great earthquakes, and a 
vehement wind, which swept all before it. Then gulfs 
yawned, and seas appeared, into which the wicked threw 
themselves, and were drawn to their place in hell. " Then," 
says Swedenborg, " I saw angelic spirits in great numbers 
rising from below, and received into heaven. They were 
the sheep who had been kept and guarded by the Lord, 
and who are understood in the Word by the bodies of saints 
which arose from their sepulchres and went into the holy 
city ; and by the souls of those slain for the testimony of 
Jesus, and who were watching ; and by those who were of 
the first resurrection. 

" After this, there was joy in heaven, and light in the world 
of spirits, such as was not before ; and the interposing clouds 
between heaven and mankind being removed, a similar light 
also then arose on men in the world, giving them new 
enlightenment." 

Such was the Last Judgment. Its centenary draws nigh ; 
and how fruitful in good to mankind has been that century 
which is now drawing to a close ! It is unnecessary to re- 
peat the hackneyed phrases which tell of the progress of the 
world during the last hundred years. Every newspaper 
speaks of it. Everybody with open eyes observes it. It 
has become the universal opinion that the world is moving 
onwards and upwards; yet how few understand why the 
world is so moving. Men have yet to learn that effects can 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 101 

no more take place without adequate causes in the universe 
of mind than in the universe of matter. Nowhere out of 
Swedenborg can we find a description of those spiritual 
causes which are changing society and revolutionizing the 
whole world. We, who live in the dawn of the new era, can 
form, even in our highest states, but a faint conception of 
its coming glory. Yet we see in the wonderful movements 
of our age, in its growing benevolence, in its increasing in- 
telligence and thoughtfulness, and in the prodigious advances 
that are making in every department of science and art, so 
many indubitable signs that the former things have passed 
away, and that the Lord is making all things new. 

Every one knows that in the Scripture, the second coming 
of the Lord is described as simultaneous with the Last 
Judgment. We will hereafter endeavor to prove that the 
Lord has indeed come, and will describe the manner of his 
coming. 

The reception of the doctrine of the Last Judgment is 
somewhat difficult, because the comprehension of it demands 
the understanding of many principles and spiritual laws un- 
known to the world at large, yet most worthy of any amount 
of labor requisite to master them. The remembrance of 
this fact will serve as an apology for any appearance of 
unfounded assumption in the outline of the doctrine we have 
given. 

9 * 



102 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Heaven and Hell* 

The treatise on Heaven and Hell is among the most 
charming of Swedenborg's writings. Its subjects possess a 
universal attraction; for, what believer in the immortality 
of man has not, at times, longed to penetrate the awful mys- 
teries of the unseen world? And there is nothing unreason- 
able in the desire. True it is, that, until Swedenborg came, 
any but the most general knowledge of the nature of the 
future life had been withdrawn from mankind since the days 
of primeval innocence ; yet not from anything hurtful in the 
knowledge itself, but simply because the sublime facts of the 
future state transcended the apprehension of men immersed 
in worldly loves and cares, and denying and ridiculing every 
idea which was not an object of sensual perception. For 
this reason the Lord said to his disciples: "I have yet many 
things to say unto you, but ye can not bear them now." 
{John xvi. 12.) We frequently see this inability to "bear" 
things spiritual and divine, manifested in our own expe- 
rience. We offer Swedenborg's treatise, for perusal, to some 
man of science, full of self-confidence, with the laws and 
facts of the universe at his finger's ends ; or to some deeply- 
read theologian. The title page is read, — "Heaven and its 
Wonders, the World of Spirits, and Hell; being a relation 
of things heard and seen." It is enough. "What non- 
sense! What foolishness! The lunatic! What could he 
know of heaven or hell? How could he get there? The 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 103 

impostor! None but a fool could write such a book!" And 
so on. The title page settles the whole question. Now what 
can be said in reply to these railers, of whom the world is 
full? How can one argue with, and combat, such inveterate 
prejudice? Yet these people are professing Christians. 
They profess to believe there is a heaven and a hell. But, 
does not their condemnation of Swedenborg betray a lurking 
infidelity in their hearts? If they really possessed a living 
faith in the existence of heaven and hell, it could not appear 
to them so utterly preposterous that some account of their 
nature might in these times have been revealed, through the 
abounding mercy of the Lord. 

But the world now contains many who are willing to re- 
ceive, and able to understand, the truths of the future life. 
The Lord, who never allows his children to lack any good 
thing, has, in due season, given them, through Swedenborg, 
this precious and delightful volume. Let us briefly enume- 
rate its important statements. 

The spiritual world divides itself into three great regions, 
— Heaven, the World of Spirits, and Hell. 

Heaven is formed of all who have loved the Lord on 
earth by living a life in accordance with his laws. The laws 
of spiritual life are known, mo^e or less perfectly, in all na- 
tions, even among the heathen. The lowest of the Gentiles 
have some faint rays of the light of spiritual truth; and if 
they live in obedience thereto, regeneration, and conse- 
quently, heaven, is attainable by them. Yet heaven has its 
degrees of bliss. Good persons of every variety of charac- 
ter pass into it. But the promiscuous association of these 
different kinds of character would not be orderly, and could 
not be blissful. By the law of spiritual gravitation, (from 
which the law of natural gravitation is but a derivation, and 
of which it is a type and image,) all who possess similar af- 
fections and intelligence are drawn together, and co-ordinated 



104 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

iu the most blissful harmony. The infinite variety of heaven 
thus arranges itself, in general, into two kingdoms; specifi- 
cally into three heavens ; and in particular, into innumer- 
able societies. The two kingdoms are respectively called 
celestial and spiritual. The angels forming the celestial 
kingdom are characterized by their exceeding love of the 
Lord and of goodness ; and the angels who form the spiritual 
kingdom are distinguished by their exceeding love of their 
neighbor and of truth. The celestial angels are immensely 
wiser than the spiritual, and their blessedness is ineffable. 
Specifically there are three heavens, perfectly distinct, called 
the first heaven, the second or middle heaven, and the third 
or highest heaven ; or they may be called external, internal, 
and inmost; or natural, spiritual, and celestial. Of these 
three heavens the highest or third, together with the internal 
of the first or lowest heaven, forms the celestial kingdom; 
and the middle or second, together with the external of the 
first or lowest heaven, forms the spiritual kingdom. These 
three heavens and two kingdoms, arising out of the varieties 
of the human mind, are not arbitrary distinctions. The ex- 
ternal, first, or natural heaven, is formed of those who, from 
a principle of obedience and duty, live in accordance with 
the Divine will. The second, spiritual, or middle heaven, is 
formed of such as love truth, delight in things intellectual, 
and at the same time are in disinterested love to the neigh- 
bor. The inmost, third, or celestial heaven, is formed of 
those who, full of love to the Lord, are in innocence. These 
celestial angels, gifted with the highest wisdom and peace, 
yet full of humility, indefinitely exceed all beneath them in 
beauty and wisdom. The existence and order of the three 
heavens was represented by the courts of the Jewish temple. 
The celebrated Oberlin, a diligent reader of Swedenborg, 
had a plan of the courts of the temple hung upon the walls 
of his church, by which he taught his hearers, that, accord- 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 105 

ing to their humility, piety, fidelity, and love of being useful 
to each other, would be their elevation in the Lord's king- 
dom, either to the first, second, or third heaven. We think 
that no one, in whom reign the heavenly principles of "love" 
to the Lord and the neighbor; "joy" in duty under all cir- 
cumstances; "peace" in every change of state; "long-suffer- 
ing" under all provocations; "gentleness" of behaviour; 
"goodness" of disposition, ever manifesting itself in good 
actions; "faith" or truth, believed, loved, and thence trusted 
in; "meekness" in doing and in suffering; "temperance" both 
in external and internal delights, Gal. v. 22, would be an 
unwilling inhabitant of such a heaven as Swedenborg de- 
scribes. Is not this at least presumptive evidence that he has 
spoken truly? 

The three heavens are further subdivided into innumerable 
societies, some smaller, and some larger; some consisting 
of myriads of angels, and some of hundreds. Their associa- 
tion into societies, is a result of similarity of character, which 
similarity is imaged in their faces; and a general likeness 
' of countenance is observed among the angels who form one 
society. All who are in similar love know each other, just 
as men in the world know their kindred, relations, and 
friends ; and thus, as it were, spontaneously associated, they 
feel at home and in freedom, and thence in the full delight 
of their life. From this it also follows that angels who differ 
much are far apart; and few depart out of their own society 
into another, because to go out from their own society is like 
going out of themselves, or out of their own life, and passing 
into another which is not so agreeable. Nevertheless all the 
societies of heaven are bound together in one perfect form, 
which is strictly human. 

All angels are in the human form, and are just such men 
and women as they were on earth, except that they have 
rejected the material body. That we should have to write 
E* 



106 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

and enforce such truisms — for such they must appear to a 
mind really rational, — is owing to the strange and ridiculous 
fancies that are commonly entertained on this subject. We 
often hear the departed talked of as shades, and thought 
of as minds without forms, or mere thinking principles 
composed of some sort of ethereal vapor; and when artists 
draw them, we see perhaps an exquisitely beautiful human 
form, but disfigured with large feathery wings, which, having 
no adequate muscles, would have no power of motion. None 
of these vague, shadowy, and erroneous ideas do we find in 
the Bible. The angels seen by Abraham, Lot, Manoah, the 
prophets, and the Lord's disciples, were all seen as men, and 
talked with as men. Our author writes thus explicitly on 
this subject. "The angelic form is in every respect human; 
angels have faces, eyes, ears, breasts, arms, hands, and feet; 
they see, hear, and converse with each other; and, in a 
word, no external attribute of man is wanting, except the 
natural body." 

And now comes a doctrine which on a first view may 
appear very mystical, and yet when pondered over, and 
understood, commends itself to our belief by a thousand 
irresistible evidences drawn from analogy, and confirmed 
by right reason. It is, that every society of heaven is in 
the human form; and that the universal heaven, viewed 
collectively, is also in the human form; and is called by 
Swedenborg the Grand or Greatest [Maximus] Man. Wil- 
kinson well expresses this sublime truth. "Heaven," he 
says, " is supremely human — nay more, it is one man. As 
the members of the body make one person, so before God, 
all good men make one humanity: every society of the 
angels is a heavenly man in a lesser form, and every angel 
in a least. The reason is, that God himself, (the Lord Jesus 
Christ,) is a Divine Man, and He shapes His heaven into 
His own imao;e and likeness, even as He made Adam. The 



EMANUEL SWEDENEORG. 107 

oneness of heaven comes from God's unity : its manhood from 
His humanity. Heaven has, therefore, all the members, 
organs, and viscera of a man; its angel inhabitants, every 
one, are in some province of the Grand Man. Indefinite 
myriads of us go to a fibre of its humanity. Some are in 
the province of the brain; some in that of the lungs; some 
in that of the heart; some in that of the belly; some are in 
the legs and arms; and all, wherever humanized, that is to 
say, located in humanity, perform spiritually the offices 
of that part of the body whereto they correspond. They all 
work together, however spaced apparently, just as the parts 
of a single man. Their space is but their palpable liberty, 
and they touch the human atoms, more closely, by offices 
which unite them in God, than the contiguous fibres of our 
flesh." Every society of heaven also increases in number 
daily, and'as it increases, it becomes more perfect; and from 
its perfection the universal heaven becomes more perfect, 
because heaven is composed of societies. Since increasing 
numbers make heaven more perfect, it is evident how much 
they are deceived who believe that heaven will be closed 
when it becomes full. On the contrary, heaven will never be 
closed, for the greater its fullness, the greater its perfection ; 
and therefore the angels desire nothing more earnestly than 
to receive new comers. 

This part of our subject would require considerable expan- 
sion to make it intelligible to minds that have never medi- 
tated on these high themes, and whose theological education 
has perverted all perception of the truth on these matters. 
The subject is enticing, but our limits command restraint. 

It was a remark of a profane wit and epicure that " as to 
heaven, he had no great longing, as he could not see what 
great pleasure there could be in sitting on a cloud and 
singing psalms to eternity." We have in this expression a 
thought which we know to be common to many minds, but 



108 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

respect for the externals of religion forbids its expression. 
The general belief respecting the nature of life in heaven, is 
so vague, and contains so much of clouds and psalm-singing, 
that it is not to be wondered at that some free and daring 
spirits should openly avow their preference for the more 
substantial realities of this life. And is it not a pity that 
the divine glories and delights of the heavenly life should 
become so vailed in mystery as to lose their attraction, and 
cease to be desirable? With the exception of the church's 
ignorance of the humanity, unity, and divinity of its Saviour 
and Lord, no surer evidence could be adduced of its con- 
summation, than its inability to answer the simplest child's 
questions as to the nature of life in heaven. Let us be 
thankful that man's utmost wants, in this respect, are satis- 
fied in the writings of that New Church which the Lord is 
now raising up, and of which Swedenborg was the divinely- 
appointed herald. 

The sun of heaven is the Lord. The light of heaven is 
the divine truth, and its heat the divine love; both proceed- 
ing from the Lord as a sun. The sun of this world is not 
seen in heaven. Nature commences from the sun of this 
world, and everything which is produced from it, and sub- 
sists by it, is called natural; but the spiritual world in which 
heaven is, is above nature, and entirely distinct from it, al- 
though it is ever to be remembered that nature is a deriva- 
tion from spirit, and communicates with spirit by corres- 
pondences. We shall have more to say on this conjunction 
yet perfect separation, between nature and spirit, when we 
come to speak of the doctrine of degrees. 

The sun of heaven, or the divine sphere of glory surround- 
ing the Lord, the "light which no man can approach unto," 
1 Tim. vi. 6, appears variously to the angels of heaven ac- 
cording to their states of love and intelligence. To the 
angels of the third heaven, the sun appears fiery and flam- 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 109 

ing; to the angels of the second heaven, white and brilliant; 
while to those of the first heaven its light is more subdued 
and vailed with clouds, yet at intervals bursting forth and 
pouring his glorious radiance upon them. Although the 
Lord is thus seen by the angels as a sun above them, yet at 
times He appears in their midst, in an angelic form, and 
with a resplendent countenance. What tongue can de- 
scribe the rapt adoration and ineffable joy which must thrill 
angelic bosoms on these occasions ! 

Heaven has its times and its seasons, but they are not like 
those of earth. In heaven there is no winter and no night. 
The times and seasons of heaven are consequences of the 
variations of the states of angelic minds. While to all ap- 
pearance they are objective as on earth, they are in reality 
strictly subjective. The external changes of light and heat 
correspond to the internal changes of love and wisdom in 
the angelic mind. Now as the angels are sometimes in a 
state of intense love, and sometimes in a state of love not so 
intense, morning, noon, evening, and twilight, exist in heaven 
as the external emblems of these changes. Without such 
changes life would lose its zest. Eternal uniformity would 
be eternal dullness. 

Since angels are men, and live together in society like 
men on earth, therefore they have garments, houses, and 
other things similar to those which exist on earth, but of 
course infinitely more beautiful and perfect. The garments 
of the angels correspond to their intelligence. The gar- 
ments of some glitter as with flame, and those of others are 
resplendent as with light; others are of various colors, and 
some white and opaque. The angels of the inmost heaven 
are naked because they are in innocence, and nakedness cor- 
responds to innocence. It is because garments represent 
states of wisdom that they are so much spoken of in the 
Word, in relation to the church and good men. Thus in 
10 



110 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

Isaiah liii. 1, "Awake, put on strength, O Zion; put on thy 
beautiful garments, O Jerusalem." And in Ezekiel xv. 10, 
the Lord says of his church : " I girded thee about with fine 
linen, and covered thee with silk." And in the Apocalypse 
iii. 4, 5, it is said : " They who have not defiled their garments, 
shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He that 
overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment." 
What a depth of meaning appears in these passages when we 
remember the spiritual signification of garments ! 

"The garments of the angels," writes Swedenborg, "do not 
merely appear to be garments, but they really are garments ; 
for they not only see them, but feel them, and have different 
ones, which they take off and put on, laying aside those which 
are not in use, and resuming them when they come into use 
again. That they are clothed with a variety of garments, I 
have witnessed a thousand times ; and when I inquired whence 
they obtained them, they told me 'from the Lord/ and that 
they receive them as gifts, and that they are sometimes clothed 
without knowing how. They also said that their garments 
are changed according to the changes of their state." 

Since there are societies in heaven, and the angels live as 
men, it follows that they have habitations, various, like all 
else in heaven, according to the degree of love and wisdom 
in which they are principled. No words are like Sweden- 
borg's own on this subject. "Whenever I have conversed 
with the angels mouth to mouth, I have been present with 
them in their habitations, which are exactly like the habita- 
tions on earth called houses, but more beautiful. They con- 
tain chambers, parlors [conclavia], and bed-chambers, in 
great numbers; courts also, and around them gardens, 
shrubberies, and fields. Where the angels are consociated 
their habitations are contiguous, or near to each other, and 
arranged in the form of a city, with streets, ways, and 
squares, exactly like the cities on our earth. 






EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. Ill 

"I have seen palaces in heaven, magnificent beyond de- 
scription. Their upper parts were refulgent as if they were 
pure gold, and their lower parts as if they were precious 
stones : some were more splendid than others, and the splen- 
dor without was equaled by the magnificence within. The 
apartments were ornamented with decorations which neither 
language nor science can adequately describe. On the south 
were paradises, in which all things were similarly resplen- 
dent ; for in some places the leaves of the trees were like 
silver, and the fruits like gold, while the colors of the flowers 
which were arranged in beds, appeared like rainbows ; at the 
boundaries appeared other palaces, which terminated the 
view. Such is the architecture of heaven that one might say 
it is the very art itself; nor is this to be wondered at, be- 
cause the art itself is from heaven. The angels said that 
such things, and innumerable others still more perfect, are 
presented before their eyes by the Lord, but that neverthe- 
less they delight their minds more than their eyes, because 
in everything they see correspondences of things divine. 

" The angels who constitute the Lord's celestial kingdom, 
dwell for the most part in elevated places, or mountains; 
those who form the spiritual kingdom, on hills ; but those 
who are in the lowest parts of heaven, in places which ap- 
pear as rocks. There are also angels who do not live conso- 
ciated, but separate. These dwell in the midst of heaven, 
and are the best of the angels. 

" The houses in which the angels dwell, are not constructed 
by hand, like houses in the world, but are given them freely 
by the Lord, according to their reception of good and truth. 
All things whatsoever which the angels possess, they hold as 
gifts from the Lord ; and they are supplied with everything 
they need." 

We thus learn that in heaven there are not external, phy- 



112 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

sical, or mental occupations to support bodily wants, as in 
this world. 

It was said above that the angels have not wings, as is 
commonly supposed. Their power of progression far exceeds 
anything that wings could supply. They have no idea of 
space, such as we have in the world. All who are of like 
disposition spontaneously associate together in the spiritual 
world. It thus follows that those are near each other who 
are in a similar state, and distant who are in a dissimilar 
state ; and that what appears to be space in heaven is merely 
an external appearance, representative of internal differences 
of mind. From this cause alone the heavens are distinct 
from each other, and each society of heaven, and every in- 
dividual in each society. Hence also the hells are altogether 
separated from the heavens. 

From the same cause, any one in the spiritual world ap- 
pears to be present if another intensely desires his presence ; 
for from that desire he sees him in thought, and puts him- 
self in his state. Again one person is removed from another 
in proportion as he holds him in aversion ; for all aversion is 
from contrariety of the affections and disagreement of the 
thoughts ; therefore many who appear together in one place 
in the spiritual world, so long as they agree, separate as soon 
as they disagree. 

Further: when any one goes from one place to another, 
whether it be in his own city, in the courts, or the gardens, 
or to others out of his own city, he arrives sooner when he 
has a strong desire to be there, and later when his desire is 
less strong ; the way itself being lengthened or shortened 
according to his desire of arrival. Hence again it is evi- 
dent that distances, and consequently spaces, exist with the 
angels altogether according to the state of their minds. 

These principles settle that often asked question, " Shall 
we know each other in the future life?" We shall, if we 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 113 



y 

A 



are in the same state as to love and truth ; but if in differ- 
ent states, we shall not, but shall be separate ; and, more- ., 
over, we shall have no desire for acquaintance. The only 
friendships in heaven are those formed on the ground of 
similarity of character. If this similarity does not exist, — 4 
with the exception perhaps of a short meeting in the world 
of spirits — death is an everlasting, though in such case not a 
mournful, farewell. 

There are governments in heaven, various according to 
the varied classes of mind which compose the heavenly so- 
cieties. The government of mutual love is the only govern- 
ment which exists in heaven. Governors in heaven are 
distinguished by love and wisdom more than others, and by 
willing well to all from love ; and knowing, from their supe- 
rior wisdom, how to realize the good they purpose. They 
do not domineer, and command imperiously, but minister 
and serve : not making themselves greater than others, but 
less ; for they put their own good last, and the good of their 
society first : nevertheless they enjoy honor and glory ; for 
they dwell in the midst of their society, in a more elevated 
situation than others, and inhabit magnificent palaces ; but 
they accept glory and honor, not for the sake of themselves, 
but for the sake of obedience ; for all in heaven know that*- 
they enjoy honor and glory from the Lord, and that, there- 
fore they ought to be obeyed. These are the things which 
are meant by the Lord's words to his disciples: "Whosoever ^ 
will be chief among you, let him be your servant ; even 
as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to 
minister." Matthew xx. 27, 28. "He that is greatest 
among you, let him be as the younger : and he that is chief, 
as he that doth serve." Luke xxii. 26. A similar govern- 
ment prevails also in every house hi heaven ; for in ev exy 
housetilieTe_^ 
loving the servants, and the servants loving the master, so 



114 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

that they serve each other from love. The master teaches 
the servants how they ought to live, and directs what 
they ought to do, while the servants obey, and perform their 
duties. 

Divine worship performed in heaven, is much the same in 
externals, as on earth. In the heavens, as on earth, there 
are doctrines, preachings, and temples. As the angels have 
houses and palaces, so also they have temples in which 
preaching is performed. Such things exist in heaven be- 
cause the angels are continually perfecting in wisdom and 
love. But real divine worship in the heavens does not con- 
sist, any more than on earth, in frequenting temples, and 
hearing sermons, but in a life of love and usefulness ; sermons 
and prayers being only means whereby the mind is enlight- 
ened to perform its various duties. " To work is to pray," is 
a heavenly precept which we should all do well to engrave 
upon our hearts. 

The sermons of heaven are fraught with such wisdom that 
nothing of the kind in the world can be compared with 
them. They are all drawn from the Word. The same 
Bible that we read here, the angels read in heaven ; but to 
them it is a very different book from what it is to us 
Where we read and think of earthly and material things, 
they read and think of spiritual aud divine things. To them 
its spiritual and celestial senses are as open as the natural 
sense is to us. From the Word they derive their highest 
wisdom ; and through continual converse with it, they grow 
wiser and wiser day by day. The Word is the wisdom of 
the Lord, and eternity can not exhaust it. 

All infants go to heaven, whether born within the church 
or out of it; whether of pious parents or wicked ones. 
When infants die, they are still infants in the other life. 
They are not angels, but become angels. Every one, on his 
decease, is in a similar state of life to that in which he was 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 115 

in the world ; an infant in the state of infancy, a boy in a 
state of boyhood, and a youth, a man, or an old man, in the 
state of youth, of manhood, or of age ; but the state of every 
one is afterwards changed. As soon as infants are raised 
from the dead, which takes place immediately after decease, 
they are carried up into heaven, and delivered to the care 
of angels of the female sex, who in the life of the body 
loved infants tenderly, and at the same time loved God. 
By these good angels, they are educated and brought up 
until they attain a suitable age, when they are transferred 
to other teachers. They grow up and become young men 
and women; are instructed in wisdom, and trained in the 
duties of the heavenly life: and when their character is 
fully developed, they become settled in some society, either 
of the celestial or spiritual kingdom, in agreement with their 
inherited genius or disposition. What a delightful faith is 
this! Do not its beauty and rationality prove its truthful- 
ness? 

Many persons imagine that infants are forever infants in 
heaven, 'and that there is indeed something infantile about 
all angels. This idea probably arises from the pictures 
which are 'frequently seen, in which angels are drawn as 
infants. But this is a great mistake. Children in heaven 
grow up into young men and women, and the aged return to 
the freshness of early manhood. They who are in heaven 
are continually advancing to the spring-time of life, and the 
more thousands of years they live, the more delightful and 
happy is the spring to which they attain ; and this progression 
goes on to eternity. Good women who have died old and 
worn out with age, after a succession of years come more and 
more into the flower of youth, and into a beauty which 
exceeds all the conceptions of beauty which can be formed 
from what the eye has seen. In a word, to grow old in hea- 
ven is to grow young. It is worthy of note, that the human 



116 LIFE AND AVRITINGS OF 

form of every man after death, is beautiful in proportion as 
his love and practice of divine truths is interior. The 
angels of the inmost heaven are consequently the most 
beautiful, because their love of truth is the deepest, and 
their lives are the most perfect. "I have seen," says $we- 
denborg, "the faces of angels of the third heaven, which 
were so beautiful, that no painter, with the utmost power of 
art, could depict even a thousandth part of their light and 
life; but the faces of the angels of the lowest heaven may, 
in some measure, be adequately depicted." 

It is believed by many in the world that heaven is a place 
of idleness, full of refined sensual delights, of pleasant 
sights and harmonious sounds; in short, some such place as 
a laborious tradesman, struggling for a fortune, fancies he 
shall enjoy when his gains shall have enabled him to "retire." 
But this is a great mistake. Man's nature remains the same 
in heaven as on earth ; and who has not felt that his hap- 
piest moments are not those of mere pleasure and idleness, 
but those in which he was rendering himself most eminently 
useful? Happiness is as little consonant with idleness in 
heaven as on earth. Jesus himself said: "My Father 
worketh hitherto, and I work." John v. 17. The angels are 
employed. All the delights of heaven are conjoined with 
uses, and are inherent in them. In proportion to an angel's 
usefulness, is his bliss. Some spirits, we read, conceived the 
opinion that heavenly happiness consisted in a life of ease, 
and in being served by others ; but they were told that hap- 
piness by no nieans consists in mere rest from employment, 
because every one would then desire to take away the hap- 
piness of others to promote his own; and since all would 
have the same desire, none would be happy; that such a life 
would not be active but indolent, and that indolence makes 
life torpid ; and that without activity there can be no happi- 
ness, and that cessation from employment is only for the sake 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORU. 117 

of reweation, that a man may return, with new vigor, to the 
activity of his life. They who entertained the idea that 
heavenly joy consists in a life of indolence, and sucking in 
eternal delight without employment, were allowed some ex- 
perience of such a life; and they perceived that it is most 
sorrowful, and that all joy being destroyed, they would after 
a time loathe and nauseate it. 

Some spirits who believed that heavenly joy consists solely 
in praising and celebrating God, were instructed that to 
praise and celebrate God is not properly an active life ; and 
that God has no need of praise and celebration. The Lord's 
will is that all should perform uses; and the angels testify 
that in the performance of good works is the highest free- 
dom, conjoined with ineffable delights. 

From all this it follows that heaven is full of employments, 
in comparison with which those of the world are few. There 
are societies whose occupation consists in taking care of 
infants; other societies, whose employment is to instruct and 
educate them as they grow up ; others which in like manner 
instruct and educate the young; others which instruct the 
simply good from the Christian world, and lead them in the 
ways of heaven; others which perform the same office to 
Gentile nations; others which defend novitiate spirits, or 
those who are newly arrived from the world, from the 
infestations of evil spirits ; some also are attendant on those 
who are preparing in the world of spirits for heaven ; and 
some are present with those who are in hell, to restrain them 
from tormenting each other beyond limit: there are also 
others who attend those who are being raised from the dead. 
In general, angels of every society are sent to men, that they 
may guard them, and withdraw them from evil affections 
and consequent evil thoughts, and inspire them with good 
affections, so far as they are willing to receive them. All 
these employments are performed by the Lord through their 



118 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

instrumentality ; and hence it is that by angels in the Word, 
in its internal sense, are not meant angels, but something 
of the Lord; and for the same reason, angels in the Word 
are called gods. 

These employments of the angels are their general employ- 
ments, but every one has his own particular duty; for every 
general use is composed of innumerable others, which are 
called mediate, ministering, and subservient uses. But in 
heaven there are so many offices that it is impossible to 
enumerate them on account of their multitude. All angels 
feel delight in their employment derived from the love 
of use, and none from the love of self or of gain ; nor is any 
one influenced by the love of gain for the sake of his main- 
tenance, because all the necessaries of life are freely given 
them; their habitations, their clothes, their food. 

It is De Quincey, we think, who accuses Swedenborg 
of sensualizing heaven, and reducing its sublime glories to 
the common order of things in this world. The assertion 
could only have been made through want of personal 
acquaintance with the writings of Swedenborg. No one can 
use the words, Isaiah lxiv. 4, quoted by the Apostle, 1 Cor. 
ii. 9: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have 
entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath 
prepared for them that love him," with more fervor and 
truth than the New Church preacher. Everywhere we are 
told by Swedenborg, that the joys and delights of heaven 
transcend the highest power of language to express; every- 
where we are told that our highest ideas formed from 
natural things, fall indefinitely short of the common realities 
of the heavenly life. Yet we also learn that the common 
humanities and pleasures of this life are not lost in the next, 
and that as men and women we carry with us to our eternal 
home every faculty of thought and affection which we 
possess here. In this most rational doctrine there is gain 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 119 

every way. In thinking of heaven we know we can never 
overrate its bliss, think as we will ; and yet with this idea is 
associated nothing of dreamy vagueness. We feel that as 
we live well we are but walking onwards to a pleasant home, 
in which all that is truest and best in this life will go with 
us. What stronger incentive can a man have to a pure and 
religious life than this divine faith. Entertaining it, with 
what feeling may he, at the close of life, utter the poets's 
words, — 

"Draw near, sweet death; 
Come raise me into life!" 

The condition of admission into heaven is the possession 
of a soul whose existence is a continual fulfillment of those 
two commandments on which the Lord says, "hang all the 
law and the prophets" — love to God, and love to man. To 
enter heaven, we must habitually place self last, and our 
neighbor first; and unless we can do this, we can never 
know eternal bliss. Now we are born into this world selfish ; 
and hence it is truly said we are hereditarily depraved. It 
is the Divine will to take all to heaven. To do this, it is 
necessary that we should be divested of our corrupt hereditary 
nature; as the Lord said to Mcodemus: "Verily, verily, I 
say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see 
the kingdom of God." This regeneration of mind, this 
change from a supreme love of self, to a supreme love 
of God and our neighbor, is, of necessity, a gradual work. 
It is not accomplished in a day, nor in a month, nor in a 
year. Like all Divine works, it proceeds gradually, step by 
step; "first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn 
in the ear." The regeneration of man is a Divine work, and 
as the Divine end in the creation of man was the formation 
of heaven out of the human race, the Lord's providence is 
unceasingly exerted to draw man out of evil, by all means 



T20 LIFE AND WHITINGS OF 

consonant with the maintenance of the inalienable freedom 
of his will. It thus follows that the Lord, in all his dealings 
with man, has respect solely to his eternal ' state, and amid 
all the apparent accidents and vicissitudes of life, he is 
present, bending them and making them all conduce to 
man's everlasting peace. Life in this world, its cares, trials, 
pleasures, comforts, friendships, sympathies, and affections, 
form the divinely-appointed regenerative process; and those 
who will only believe this great truth, and submit to the 
Divine leading, will encounter nothing in life but what is 
good for them; and existence here, however bitter and 
painful at times, will resolve itself into a series of lessons 
devised by infinite wisdom to uproot all latent and known 
evils, transforming the patient sufferer into a true child 
of God. The Lord permits one man to be rich, powerful, 
and famous, and another to be afflicted with disease and 
perplexed with poverty; one to have a settled and calm 
peace of mind, while another is tried and tormented with 
doubts and anxieties ; nor for any ultimate purpose on earth, 
but solely as a means of spiritual regeneration, — as a means 
of making man happy in the eternal life to come. All 
man's states are under the minute guardianship of the Lord; 
and each day comes round with its circle of pleasant and 
unpleasant occurrences, often, apparently, the result of acci- 
dent and chance, but in truth all provided of the Divine 
Providence for the eradication of evil, and the growth and 
nurture of goodness. There is no trial encountered, no 
circumstance met, or cross endured, but has its eternal issue; 
and man's conduct in relation to it is looked upon by the 
Lord with a love and interest infinitely transcending our 
highest conception. All has been foreseen; and these daily 
recurring tasks are appointed by that wisdom which guides 
the stars in their courses, and by that love which requires 
eternity to satisfy the ardor with which it would bless. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBOKG. 121 

With what dignity does such a faith clothe existence! 
What earnestness and celestial patience must it infuse into 
life! 

From all that has now been said, it will be very evident 
that heaven is not a gift of immediate Divine mercy, to be 
obtained by a verbal confession of faith at the hour of death. 
If man could be saved by immediate mercy, all would be 
saved; even the inhabitants of hell, and hell itself would not 
exist; because the Lord is Mercy itself, Love itself, and 
Good itself, and wills the salvation of all, and the damna- 
tion of no one. But man's spirit is substantial; and if 
formed to evil, to change it would be equivalent to annihila- 
tion. " The angels declare that it were easier to change a 
bat into a dove, or an owl into a bird of paradise, than to 
change an infernal spirit into an angel of heaven." "Ample 
experience," writes Swedenborg, " enables me to testify that 
it is impossible to implant the life of heaven in those who 
have led an opposite life in the world. There were some 
who believed that they should easily receive divine truths 
after death, when they heard them from the angels ; and that 
they would believe them then, amend their lives, and be re- 
ceived into heaven; and the experiment was made on great 
numbers of them, in order that they might be convincrd 
that repentance is not possible after death. Some under- 
stood the truths they heard, and seemed to receive them ; but 
as soon as they returned to the life of their love, they re- 
jected them, and even argued against them. Some rejected 
them instantly, from entire unwillingness to hear them ; but 
others were desirous that the life of the love they had contracted 
in the world, might be taken away from them; and that angelic 
life, the life of heaven, might be infused in its place. This was 
permitted ; but when the life of their love was taken away, 
they lay as if dead, and deprived of all their faculties. 
From this it was manifest that no one's life can possibly be 
it F 



122 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

changed after death, that evil life can not be changed into 
good life, nor the life of an infernal into that of an angel ; 
because every spirit is from head to foot of the same quality 
as his love, and therefore of the same quality as his life ; and 
consequently to transmute his life into its opposite is to 
destroy him altogether." All this goes to confirm the Lord's 
declaration before quoted, "Except a man be born again, he 
can not see the kingdom of God." On no other terms can 
heavenly bliss be gained. 

We now come to speak of the World of Spirits, which 
Swedenborg thus defines: "The world of spirits is neither 
heaven nor hell, but an intermediate place or state between 
both, into which man enters immediately after death; and 
then after a certain period, the duration of which is deter- 
mined by the quality of his life in the world, he is either 
elevated into heaven, or cast into hell. 

" The spirits in the world of spirits are immensely nume- 
rous, because that world is the general assembly of all imme- 
diately after their resurrection, and all are examined there 
and prepared for their final abode; but the length of their 
sojourn in that world is not in all cases the same. Some 
only enter it, and are immediately taken up into heaven, or 
cast down into hell; some remain there a few weeks, and 
others several years, but none (since the Last Judgment,) 
more than thirty years." 

A belief in the existence of an intermediate state has been 
entertained in all times and churches, except among Pro- 
testants, who, in their anxiety to divest themselves of every 
remnant of Popery, rejected the doctrine entirely, through 
aversion to the follies of Purgatory. A return to the truth 
is however slowly taking place; not a few Protestant divines 
having expressed their faith in the existence of Hades, or 
the intermediate state alluded to in the literal sense of Scrip- 
ture. But the world of spirits is not to be thought of as a 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 123 

revived idea of Purgatory. The soul of no man is changed 
in the world of spirits. " As the tree falls so it lies." The 
discipline of this life is perfected at death, and its oppor- 
tunities never return. The world of spirits is a place where 
the externals of man are brought into correspondence with 
his internals; for no one, either in heaven or in hell, is 
allowed to have a divided mind, understanding one thing 
and willing another. What any one wills, he must under- 
stand, and what he understands he must will ; therefore he who 
wills good in heaven, must understand truth; and he who 
wills evil in hell, must understand falsities. On this account 
also, falses are removed from the good in the world of spirits, 
and there are given them truths which agree and harmo- 
nize with their good; but truths are removed from the evil, 
and they take to themselves falses which agree and harmo- 
nize with their evil. Let us explain this subject further. 

We suppose the generality of our readers will admit that 
countless thousands of good men and women among the 
Mahommedans, Chinese, Hindoos, and all the heathen na- 
tions, who live according to the measure- of their light, are 
saved and taken to heaven. But it is very evident that they 
can not go to heaven carrying with them false notions on 
religious subjects, and knowing nothing of that good Lord 
into whose kingdom they are about to pass. They must be 
instructed. They must have errors removed from their 
minds, and truths implanted in their stead. Time is re- 
quired to effect these changes, and the world of spirits is the 
school in which the process is accomplished. Instruction in 
truth is readily received by the simply good ; and after being 
enlightened and purified from falsity, they are led to their 
eternal homes among the blessed — to those of a disposition 
and order of mind like themselves. 

Then, again, among Christians, there are many who die 
with slight failings pertaining to them, with infirmities of 



124 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

temper, with bad habits of one kind and another ; yet who are 
really sound-hearted and good men. Their lot can not be 
hell ; yet with these flaws in their character, their presence 
in heaven could not be pleasant, because their state of mind 
is at variance with the perfect order and peace of heaven. 
Such, then, remain in the world of spirits, passing through 
trials, and temptations, and sufferings, until they reject all 
that is disorderly and impure. The processes by which this 
removal of external evils is accomplished, are frequently 
extremely painful, and extend over many years. Their 
removal might with less difficulty have been accomplished 
in the present life. The Lord warns us of this in these 
words : "Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art 
in the way with him ; lest at any time the adversary deliver 
thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, 
and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou 
shalt by no means come out thence till thou hast paid the 
uttermost farthing." Matthew v. 25, 26. Our adversary is 
the truth. Truth is ever an adversary to the evil. Elijah 
the prophet represented the Divine Truth. When he ap- 
proached the wicked Ahab, Ahab cried: "Hast thou found 
me, O mine enemy?" "In the way with him" is in the 
present life; and the "prison" is the world of spirits, often 
so called in the Word, out of which we shall not be delivered 
until entirely divested of selfish affections, and false principles 
of thought. How practical, thus viewed, becomes our Lord's 
advice! But without a knowledge of the world of spirits, 
and the spiritual sense of Scripture, it is quite mystical and 
unintelligible. 

There are many in the Christian world who have con- 
firmed their minds in false ideas on many religious doctrines. 
With such erroneous ideas they can not enter heaven, where 
truth alone prevails. They therefore remain in the world 
of spirits until, through instruction, they see and reject the 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 125 

false persuasions they had contracted on earth. In some 
cases, where false doctrine has been deeply reasoned upon, 
and ground, as it were, into the mind, the process of its 
removal and rejection is attended with deep and prolonged 
suffering. 

As the good reject all false ideas in the world of spirits, 
so the evil cast off all true ones. It may be asked, Why? 
Why should bad be made worse? Bad is not made worse. 
It is for the peace of the evil themselves that they should be 
divested of all truth. The presence of truth with the wicked 
only adds to their torment by the continual protest it makes 
against their sin. It is also well that the evil lose all truth, 
for the sake of the good, whom they might trouble and 
disturb through the power that truth would afford them to 
assume an angelic appearance; to become wolves in sheep's 
clothing; or as Paul states it, "Satan transforming himself 
into an angel of light." Hypocrites, who have used truth 
to subserve their own selfish ends, remain longer than others 
in the world of spirits, and endure much suffering ere they 
allow their means of subtlety and mischief to depart from 
them. The process of divesting the evil of the truths they 
possess, is described by the Lord in these words: "Take 
heed, therefore, how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him 
shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be 
taken even that which he seemeth to have." Luke viii. 18. 
What is heard is truth. The good alone have truth, for 
their goodness loves truth, and cherishes it. Truth thus 
loved, multiplies; therefore it is said, "more shall be given." 
The bad may have truth in their memory, may use it for 
selfish purposes, and talk much about it; nevertheless it is 
not theirs. Their internal evil hates it. " Every one that 
doeth evil hateth the light;" and in the future life the truth 
which he seemed to have, is taken from him. How just, 
and at the same time how merciful, is this judgment! 
11 * 



i 126 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

/ Hell is the congregation of all evil spirits. As there are 

' . many heavens, so likewise there are many hells. As the 
' \ inhabitants of heaven are arranged from similarity of good- 
^s/ ness and truth, so the inhabitants of hell are arranged from 
yi similarity of evil and falsity. The hells are arranged so 
to distinctly according to the differences of evil, that nothing 
£ more orderly and distinct can be conceived. The Lord, 
, speaking through David, says: Psalm lxxxvi. 13: "Thou 
hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell." Thus from 
Scripture we derive a direct proof, if proof were wanted, 
of the gradations of evil. There are several other texts to 
the same effect. 

The scenery of hell, like that of heaven, is in perfect 
correspondence with the states of those there. It is an 
outbirth from the minds of its inhabitants; and as they are 
deformed and full of every pollution, so their scenery is full 
of horrors and things abominable. "In hell there is no sun, 
but the inhabitants roam in darkness corresponding to 
themselves, for they are darkness : their light is artificial, as 
of coal fires, meteors, ignes fatui, and the lights of night. 
They inhabit scenery of which they are the souls, as bogs, 
fens, tangled forests, caverns, dreary deserts, charred and 
ruined cities. In the milder hells, there appear, as it were, 
rude cottages, which are in some cases contiguous, and 
resemble the streets and lanes of a city. Within the houses 
infernal spirits are engaged in continual quarrels, enmities, 
blows, and violences, while the streets and lanes are full 
of robberies and depredations. The inhabitants are at 
continual war, hating and tormenting one another, and the 
cruelties they practice are indescribable." "It is impossible 
to give a description of the horrible forms of the spirits 
of hell. No two are alike, although there is a general 
likeness in those who are in the same evil. They are forms 
of contempt of others, of menace against those who do not 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 127 

pay them respect, of hatreds of various kinds, and of revenge ; 
and in these forms, outrage and cruelty are transparent 
from within; but when others commend, venerate, and 
worship them, their faces are drawn up, and have an 
appearance of gladness arising from delight. Some of their 
faces are direful and void of life, like corpses; some are 
black, and others fiery, like torches; others are disfigured 
by pimples, warts, and ulcers ; and frequently no face appears, 
but instead of a face something hairy and bony, and some- 
times nothing but teeth. Their bodies are monstrous, and 
their speech is the speech of anger, of hatred, of revenge; 
for every one speaks from his own false, and the tone of his 
voice is from his own evil. In a word they are all images 
of their own hell." 

" And does Swedenborg relate such horrors ?" some may 
ask. For facts, we answer, Swedenborg is not to blame. 
Like the Israelites of old, we would fain have our prophets 
" speak unto us smooth things." Let us rid ourselves of all 
morbid delicacy, and seek to know the truth. We should 
all do well to peruse with patience those pages wherein our 
author narrates the horrors of hell, so that we may see, shun, 
and detest the evils which make hell. It is well that every 
man should know whither his lust, his pride, his avarice, 
or anger, is leading him. If he shudder, it is for his eternal 
good. 

The universal hell, like heaven, is as one man, — not of 
beauty, as heaven, but a hideous monster. In its collective 
capacity, it is the Devil and Satan ; the Devil is the name 
of its evil, and Satan is the name of its falsity. There is 
no individual evil spirit ruling hell, and bearing either of 
those names. An enlightened view of Scripture confirms 
this doctrine in every point, and rids us of the innumerable 
absurdities which the commonly received theory in regard to 
the Devil involves. There is no spirit in hell who was not 



128 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

once a man on earth. There is no spirit in hell who was 
ever an angel in heaven. The Lord himself rules the hells, 
and by all means possible restrains their violence and miti- 
gates their suffering. 

Some people believe that God turns away his face from 
man, rejects him, and casts him into hell, and that he is 
angry with him on account of his evils ; and others go still 
further, and affirm that God punishes man, and brings evil 
upon him. They also confirm this opinion from the literal 
sense of the Word, in which expressions occur that appear 
to sustain it. But these opinions are formed through igno- 
rance of the real sense of these passages, and from a blind 
neglect of others, the literal sense of which teaches that God 
is goodness and mercy itself, and that fury is not in him. 
Isaiah xxvii. 4. True doctrine declares that the Lord never 
turns away his face from man, never rejects him, never casts 
any one into hell, and is never angry. The Lord is contin- 
ually withdrawing man from evil and leading him to goed ; 
but man's freedom is never taken away. If man will love 
evil and will do perversely, the Lord does not prevent. 
That man should go to hell is at variance with the Divine 
design ; but to infringe man's freedom would be to destroy 
his life and take from him all that is human, reducing him 
to the level of a machine or a brute. Those who are in 
hell, cast themselves down thither, and keep themselves 
where they are. " This is," as Wilkinson says, " the last 
dogma of free will, — that of a finite being perpetuating for 
ever his own evil, standing fast to selfishness without end, 
excluding Omnipotence in all its dispensations, and making 
the 'will not' into an everlasting ' cannot,' to maintain itself 
out of heaven, and contrary to heaven." 

This is a very brief abstract of the leading ideas in Swe- 
denborg's wondrous treatise on Heaven and Hell. We are 
well aware how far short it falls of doing full justice to the 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 129 

work. Let us hope that what has been said may induce 
some to make a personal acquaintance with it ; and then they 
will understand the difficulties we labor under in condens- 
ing within a few pages its multitudinous facts and closely 
linked logic. 

It remains only to add, that the treatise on Heaven and 
Hell has been translated into English, French, and German. 
The English editions have been many, and in some cases 
large. The latest may be accepted as a sign of the times, 
being in the form of an eighteen-penny volume, a second 
edition of which has been called for. We lay no claim to the 
gift of prophecy, but we feel certain that the time is coming 
when Swedenborg's "Heaven and Hell" will be the most 
popular and extensively read of religious books. 



130 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The Wltite Horse-r-TJie Earths in the Universe — Hie New Jerusalem 
and its Heavenly Doctrine. 

1. The treatise on the White Horse mentioned in the 
Apocalypse, forms a tract of about twenty pages. It is an 
exposition of the spiritual sense of Revelation xix. 11-16. 
It is shown that by the heavens being opened, the White 
Horse, and its rider, are represented the Lord and his Word, 
and the quality of those to whom the internal truth of the 
Word is revealed. The particulars of the text are all gone 
into and expounded, and copious references made to the 
Arcana Coelestia for fuller details. It is to be noted that 
voluminous as are Swedenborg's theological works, that they 
form one harmonious whole bound together in the unity of 
truth, and mutually confirming each other. Literature, we 
believe, contains no example of so great a mass of writing 
permeated with such a consistent spirit, and so little af- 
fected by the author's humors and fluctuations of mood. 
So far does this uniform spirit extend, that, had it been pos- 
sible, we might imagine his many volumes had been struck 
out of thought in one short day, instead of being written 
continuously through a course of nearly thirty years. 

In this small treatise we have a list of the books in our 
Bible which form the true Word of God. They are, in the 
Old Testament, the five books of Moses; the book of Joshua; 
the book of Judges; the two books of Samuel; the two books 
of Kings; the Psalms of David; the Prophets, Isaiah, Jere- 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 131 

miali, the Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, 
Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zepha- 
niah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi; and, in the New Testa- 
ment, the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 
John: and the Kevelation. The rest have not the internal 
sense, and are not to be regarded as a part of the inspired 
Word. We shall have to speak of the plenary inspiration 
of the Word, when we come to Swedenborg's treatise on the 
Sacred Scripture, and show how broad is the line of dis- 
tinction between the Word of God and the writings of men. 
It requires but a slight acquaintance with the doctrine of 
correspondences, to perceive that this distinction between the 
books contained within the covers of the authorized version 
of the Bible is not arbitrary; that it is a distinction as 
marked and visible as that between God and man, or nature 
and art. Apart, however, from the doctrine of correspon- 
dences, the distinction may be sustained by the authority of 
the Jews, and the indirect testimony of many of the Fathers 
of the Christian Church, coupled with numerous natural 
reasons founded on a critical examination of style, etc. 

"The book of Job," says Swedenborg, "was a book of the 
Ancient Church," and therefore, with the exception of the 
first chapters of Genesis, is the oldest portion of the Bible. It 
has a kind of internal sense, but not like that of the Word. 

The exclusion of the Epistles from the Books of the 
Word, is perhaps, to a new reader, the most startling of 
Swedenborg's announcements. For this exclusion and its 
reasons, we will simply quote his own words. Writing to 
Dr. Beyer, he says: "With regard to the writings of St. 
Paul, and the other Apostles, I have not given them a place 
in my ' Arcana Coelestia,' because they are dogmatic writings 
merely, and are not written in the style of the Word, as are 
those of the Prophets, of David, of the Evangelists, and of 
the Kevelation of St. John. The style of the Word consists 



132 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

throughout in correspondences, and thence effects immediate 
communication with heaven ; but the style of these dogmatic 
writings is quite different, having, indeed, communication 
with heaven, but only mediately or indirectly. The reason 
why the Apostles wrote in this style, was, that the First 
Christian Church was then to begin through them ; conse- 
quently, the same style as is used in the Word would not 
have been proper for such doctrinal tenets, which required 
plain and simple language, suited to the capacities of all 
readers. Nevertheless, the writings of the Apostles are very 
good books for the Church, inasmuch as they insist on the 
doctrine of charity, and faith from charity, as strongly as the 
Lord himself has done in the Gospels, and the Kevelation of 
St. John, as will appear evidently to any one who studies these 
writings with attention." 

2. The treatise on the " Earths in the Universe" is formed 
from several of those portions of the "Arcana Coelestia," 
occurring between the chapters, expository of the spiritual 
sense of Genesis and Exodus. It forms a pamphlet of about 
fifty pages. 

Many and prolonged have been the discussions as to 
whether other planets are, like our own, the abodes of human 
beings. Great as has been the progress of astronomical 
science, the learned are yet far from being unanimous on 
the question, as is evident from the recent controversy be- 
tween Prof. Whewell and Sir David Brewster. Swedenborg 
does not entertain us with prolix reasonings as to whether or 
not the earths of the universe are inhabited. That was a 
question far too trivial for his masculine understanding. 
He saw that these vast spaces were not formed by the Lord, 
except for the highest end, the creation of a heaven of intel- 
ligent human beings, capable of satisfying the infinite de- 
sires of Divine Love. The earths of the universe are peo- 
pled even as our own globe, or are in course of preparation 



EMANUEL SWEDENBOKG. 133 

for it. Any other view than this is unworthy of acceptance, 
and dishonorable to the highest truths of reason and revela- 
tion. 

Swedenborg was permitted to see, and hold converse with, 
the inhabitants of other earths ; and most interesting are 
his relations concerning them. Wilkinson aptly remarks 
that the work now under consideration " may be character- 
ized as a Keport on the Religion of the Universe." Swe- 
denborg tells us that the dwellers in these distant spheres 
think of the Lord and worship him. He describes the 
quality of their love and wisdom, and how they conduct 
themselves toward each other. It is a pleasant thought that V 
the people of this world are the worst of humanity, the f m 
most sensual, and the least abounding in true intelligence 
and spirituality. In other words there is sin, and its conse- 
quent suffering, arising from the same cause as with us ; but 
it is not so deep nor so wide spread. The fact of the Divine 
Incarnation is likewise known in other worlds, and is re- 
garded as the great truth of faith. 

Swedenborg affirms that the moon is inhabited. "We know 
that even those scientific men who hold to the doctrine of a 
plurality of worlds, do not believe in the habitability of the 
moon; because, say they, it lacks alike water and atmos- 
phere. To say that it has no atmosphere is very unphilo- "*- 
sophical. The atmosphere may not be of the same density ^\f 
as that of our earth ; but that it should have no sphere or "^ 
aura around it, we cannot for a moment believe. Sweden- 
borg tells us that the Lunarians are dwarfs, like boys of 
seven years old, with robust bodies and pleasant countenances. 
They do not speak from their lungs, on account of the at\ 
tenuated nature of their atmosphere, but from a quantity! 
of air collected in the abdom en. 

It is but just to state that Swedenborg speaks of Saturn 
as the outermost planet of the solar system, he not being 

12 




134 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

permitted to anticipate Herschel or Neptune. An opponent 
might make merry over this, and say : " Don't you see that 
Swedenborg was but a dreamer ? How could he know aught 
of the inhabitants of other earths when he did not even 
know that beyond Saturn rolled two immense worlds ?" "We 
reply, that it would have been disorderly for him to have 
become possessed of such knowledge by spiritual means. " But 
how so?" Because it would have compelled belief in the spi- 
ritual doctrines he taught, without due thought and examina- 
tion, as soon as science had established the existence of these 
orbs ; because miracles and prophecy are not permitted in these 
times, for they force and destroy man's freedom. How easy it 
would be for the Lord to witness to the truth of His "Word by 
supernatural signs in the natural world ! Yet he does not, 
although belief in his Word, and life according to it, is es- 
sential to man's highest happiness. Belief so induced would 
be worthless, because compelled. It may be said that this 
is mere special pleading ; but it is not so. The laws laid 
down in a later work of Swedenborg's, on the "Divine 
Providence," fortify, in a most rational manner, the truth 
as we have endeavoured to set it forth. It is also to be re- 
marked that natural truth must be discovered by its appro- 
priate means, — natural investigation. It was necessary that 
Swedenborg should be skilled in all natural science previous 
to his illumination, so that he might possess a basis for 
many spiritual facts which could neither have been ex- 
pressed nor made intelligible without at the same time giving 
their correspondence in nature. It would have been alto- 
gether contrary to the Divine order to have taken Sweden- 
borg in his early youth and ignorance, and, making him a 
seer, have communicated natural truth to him in a super- 
natural manner. 

3. " The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine" is a 
brief exposition of the leading truths of the New Church. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 135 

After each of its chapters follow references, (in some cases 
more extensive than the chapter itself,) to the "Arcana 
Coelestia." These references, so numerous in Swedenborg's 
writings, do not form a dry and unreadable index, but may 
be looked on as a series of precepts pertaining to moral and 
spiritual life. Were we gathering a volume of gems of 
thought, we should find an abundance to suit our purposes 
in these references. 

This work has been printed as a cheap pamphlet. We 
know of no other work which could more appropriately be 
placed in the hands of a stranger desiring to know, without 
much reading, the nature of those doctrines which Sweden- 
borg was commissioned to reveal to the world. 



136 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



CHAPTER XV. 



The trite observation that the lives of literary men are 
devoid of those incidents which make up a stirring and 
lively biography, applies with great truth to the career of 
Swedenborg. His quiet and unostentatious life afforded but 
few materials for anecdotes ; hence we have but faint traces 
of his outward course. While writing the works we have 
just noticed, from 1747 to 1758, the principal portion of 
his time must have been passed in London. Few men in 
those days were capable of sympathy or communion with 
the elevated and spiritualized mind of Swedenborg. Yet 
though living as it were alone, he could not have been mel- 
ancholy or desolate. Under the care and guidance of the 
Lord, favored with the company and converse of angels, 
and enjoying the consciousness of fulfilling high and holy 
duties, he had every reason to be the cheerful and contented 
man that contemporary testimony represents him. His 
evenings he used often to spend with his printer, Mr. Hart, 
of Poppin's court, Fleet street. Mrs. Lewis, his publisher's 
wife, knew him, and "thought him a good and sensible 
man, but too apt to spiritualize things." Beyond a few 
particulars such as these, we know nothing of his private 
life. 

On the 19th of July, 1759, we find Swedenborg at Gotten- 
burg. Here occurred the following circumstance, of which 
Immanuel Kant, the celebrated transcendentalist, is the 
narrator. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 137 

"On Saturday, at 4 o'clock, P. M.," says Kant, "when 
Swedenborg arrived at Gottenburg from England, Mr. Wil- 
liam Castel invited him to his house, together with a party 
of fifteen persons. About 6 o'clock, Swedenborg went out, 
and after a short interval returned to the company, quite 
pale and alarmed. He stated that a dangerous fire had just 
broken out in Stockholm, at Sundermalm, (distant three 
hundred miles from Gottenburg,) and that it was spreading 
very fast. He was restless, and went out often. He said 
that the house of one of his friends, whom he named, was 
already in ashes, and that his own was in danger. At 8 
o'clock, after he had been out again, he joyfully exclaimed: 
'Thank God! the fire is extinguished the third door from 
my house.' This news occasioned great commotion among 
the company. It was announced to the governor the same 
evening. The next morning, Swedenborg was sent for by 
the governor, who questioned him concerning the disaster. 
Swedenborg described the fire precisely, how it had begun, 
in what manner it had ceased, and how long it had continued. 
On the same day the news was spread through the city; and 
as the governor had thought it worthy of attention, the 
consternation was considerably increased, as many were in 
trouble on account of their friends and property, which 
might have been involved in the disaster. On Monday 
evening, a messenger arrived at Gottenburg, who was" 
despatched during the time of the fire. In the letters 
brought by him, the fire was described precisely in the 
manner stated by Swedenborg. On Tuesday morning, a 
royal courier arrived at the governor's with the melancholy 
intelligence of the fire, of the loss it had occasioned, and 
of the houses damaged and ruined, not in the least differing 
from that which Swedenborg had given the moment it had 
ceased : the fire had been extinguished at 8 o'clock. 

"What," continues Kant, "can be brought forward against 



138 LIFE AND WHITINGS OF 

the authenticity of this occurrence? My friend who wrote 
this to me, has not only examined the circumstances of this 
extraordinary case at Stockholm, but also, about two months 
ago, at Gottenburg, where he is acquainted with the most 
respectable houses, and where he could obtain the most 
authentic and complete information, as the greatest part 
of the inhabitants, who are still alive, were witnesses to the 
memorable occurrence." 

This narrative is taken from a letter written by Kant, in 
1768, to Charlotte de Knobloch, a lady of quality. Kant, 
it may be remarked, was no adherent of Swedenborg's. 
Two years before writing this letter, he had attacked him in 
a small work entitled, " Dreams of the Great Seer Illustrated 
by Dreams of Metaphysics." Received from such a source, 
we can entertain no doubt as to the truth of the story. 

At home, in Stockholm, Swedenborg did not fail to excite 
much curiosity and attention, and his conduct and deport- 
ment were carefully watched. It was observed that he 
seldom went to church, or received the sacrament. This 
was owing partly to the contrariety of the Lutheran doctrine 
to his own views, and partly, Eobsahm says, to the disease 
of the stone, which troubled him. In 1760, two bishops, his 
relations, remonstrated with him in a friendly manner upon 
his remissness. He answered, that, religious observances 
were not so necessary for him as for others, as he was 
associated with angels. They then represented that his 
example would be valuable, by which argument he suffered 
himself to be persuaded. A few days previously to receiving 
the sacrament, he asked his old domestics to whom he should 
resort for the purpose, for "he was not much acquainted 
with the different preachers." The elder chaplain was men- 
tioned. Swedenborg objected that "he was a passionate 
man and a fiery zealot, and that he had heard him thunder- 
ing from the pulpit with little satisfaction." The assistant 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 139 

chaplain was then proposed, who was not so popular with 
the congregation. Sweclenborg said, "I prefer him to the 
other, for I hear that he speaks what he thinks, and by this 
means has lost the good-will of his people, as generally 
happens in this world." Accordingly he took the sacrament 
from this curate. 

"In general/"' says Robsahm, "Swedenborg would not 
enter into dispute on matters of religion. If he was necessi- 
tated to defend himself, he did it with mildness and in a few 
words ; but if any one would not be convinced, and became 
warm in argument, he retired, saying, 'Head my writings 
attentively and without prejudice; they will answer you in 
my stead, and will afford you reason to change your ideas 
and opinions on such things/ 

"He used, at first, freely to speak of his visions and 
spiritual explications of the Scriptures ; but as this displeased 
the clergy, who proclaimed him a heretic and madman, he 
resolved to be less communicative of his knowledge in 
company, or, at least, more cautious, lest the censorious 
should have room to blame what they could not comprehend 
like himself. I once," says Robsahm, "addressed the rector 
of the parish where he lived, an old and respected clergyman, 
asking him what he thought of Swedenborg's visions and 
explanations of the Bible. The venerable man answered: 
• God alone can judge of this ; but I can not think him to be 
such a person as many do; I have myself conversed with 
him, and in company where we have been together, and I 
have found him to be a good and a holy man/ 

"It was remarkable that Swedenborg never endeavored 
to persuade any person to receive his opinions. He was in 
nowise led by that self-love which is observable in those who 
publish new opinions concerning church doctrines; neither 
did he seek to make many proselytes, not even communi- 
cating his thoughts and sentiments, except to those whom he 



140 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

thought virtuous, disposed to hear them with moderation, 
capable of comprehending them, and lovers of truth. 

" It is a very singular circumstance," continues Robsahm, 
" that all who have read the writings of Swedenborg, with a 
desire to refute them, have finished the attempt by adhering 
to his sentiments." This assertion must be received, how- 
ever, with qualification. 

Though busied with the composition of his works, and im- 
mersed in spiritual contemplations, Swedenborg was not for- 
getful of the world and of his duties to his country. In 
1761 he took part in the Swedish Diet or Parliament. 
1 Three of his memorials or addresses to the Diet, are pre- 
served. In the first of these he congratulates the House 
upon its meetings, and counsels the redress of all grievances 
which cause disaffection. In the second he advocates an 
alliance with France instead of England from prudential 
motives, at the same time strongly protesting against the evil 
of despotic governments, and the danger to liberty in the 
extension of the Roman Catholic faith. The third memo- 
rial is on the subject of finance. Count Hopken, the Swe- 
dish prime minister at that time, leaves on record that "the 
most solid memorials, and the best penned, at the Diet of 
1761, on matters of finance, were presented by Swedenborg; 
in one of which he refuted a large work in 4to on the same 
subject, quoted the corresponding passages of it, and all in 
less than one sheet." He was likewise a member of the 
secret committee of the Diet, an office to which only the 
most sage and virtuous were elected. Consider, reader, for 
a moment, the dignity, the wisdom, and the abounding com- 
mon sense which must have permeated the whole being of 
Swedenborg, to enable him to live down the obloquy at- 
tached to the name of a "ghost-seer," and be received with 
high favor and acceptance by men of the world, sceptical 
and sensual ! 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 141 

Soon afterwards Swedenborg left Stockholm ; and we find 
him in July, 1762, at Amsterdam. Jung Stilling received 
from a friend the following interesting anecdote respecting 
him at this time. " I was in Amsterdam," says he, " in 
1762, in a company in which Swedenborg was present, on 
the very day that Peter III., Emperor of Eussia, died. In 
the midst of our conversation his countenance changed, and 
it was evident that his soul was no longer there, and that 
something extraordinary was passing in him. As soon as 
he came to himself again, he was asked what had happened 
to him. He would not at first communicate it; but at 
length, after having been repeatedly pressed, he said : ' This 
very hour, the Emperor Peter III. has died in his prison/ 
mentioning at the same time the manner of his death. 
' Gentlemen will please to note down the day, that they may 
be able to compare it with the intelligence of his death in 
the newspapers.' The newspapers subsequently announced 
the Emperor's death as having taken place on that day." 



142 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



CHAPTER XVI. 
Doctrines of the Iiord — The Sacred Scripture, Faith, and IAfe. 

In 1763, Swedenborg published, at Amsterdam, the fol- 
lowing works: — 1. The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 
respecting the Lord; 2. The Sacred Scripture ; 3. Faith; 4. 
Life; 5. Continuation respecting the Last Judgment and 
the Destruction of Babylon; and 6. Angelic Wisdom con- 
cerning the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom. We will 
now speak of these works seriatim. 

1. The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the 
Lord, is a small treatise : but within its limits is concentrated 
so much light and rationality, that we might say the question 
it deals with was finally settled, did we not too well know 
the perversity and pertinacity of theological error, in closing 
the mind against the perception of truth, though it were 
manifested with angelic wisdom. 

The great truth in the treatise is the Supreme Divinity of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. This truth is brought forth from the 
collation of nearly every passage of Scripture which, in the 
literal sense, bears upon the subject. It is shown, by an in- 
vincible logic, that there is but one God; and that, in the 
Bible itself, the doctrine of three persons in the Godhead is 
not to be found. It is then shown that God the Lord, in 
the fullness of time, came to earth, and put on human nature, 
or became incarnate. The object sought to be effected by 
the incarnation, was the salvation of man. From the days 
of Adam, mankind had been treading a downward path. 



EMANUEL SWEDENB011G. 143 

Through wickedness, all true faith and spirituality had per- 
ished. Hell had drawn near to men, even to the possession 
of their bodies, as we read in the Gospels. Isaiah describes 
the state of mankind thus: "Hell hath enlarged herself, 
and opened her mouth without measure." Humanity was 
thus hastening to destruction, and final extinction. But the 
Lord Jehovah interposed. Clothing himself with an arm 
of flesh, he met the powers of hell on their own ground ; 
and rendering himself accessible to their attacks, in a series 
of the most direful temptation-combats, He reduced Hell to 
order, and redeemed mankind forever from the absolute do- 
minion of devils. But this was not all. The human nature 
that the Lord had assumed, full of hereditary corruption, 
was taken from the race of Jewish kings, the most depraved 
and perverted to be found on earth. He purified, glorified, 
and made it divine, ascending with it to heaven. The new 
influences flowing through the medium of this Divine Hu- 
manity, are called the Holy Spirit. Of the truth of this we 
have the most convincing proof in John vii. 39, where it is 
said, " the Holy Ghost was not yet, because Jesus was not yet 
glorified." 

From this it is very evident that the Trinity is not, as 
commonly taught, a Trinity of persons, but of principles. 
In ourselves we see a finite image of this Divine and Infinite 
Trinity. The soul of man may be taken as the representa- 
tive of Jehovah; his body represents the Divine Humanity, 
or Jesus Christ; and his action or influence on others cor- 
responds to the Holy Spirit Begarded in this light, that 
most mystical and incomprehensible dogma of three Persons, 
and yet one God, is annihilated, and we come into the en- 
joyment of a faith at once scriptural, intelligible, and 
rational. It is impossible for us here to go into the details 
of this doctrine, or give even an outline of its proofs. To 
an earnest seeker after truth we can conceive no pleasure 



144 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

exceeding an acquaintance with this treatise on the Lord. 
If, especially, he has vexed and worn himself in reading the 
profitless controversies and lucubrations of learned divines 
on the Trinity, his fretted and heated mind will experience 
a spiritual relief similar to the natural one which results 
when patience has become exhausted in vain endeavors to 
unfasten a lock, and a skilled mechanic draws near, takes 
the work out of our hands, and with dexterity and ease ac- 
complishes the task in a moment. Swedenborg lays his 
hand on the tangled mass of mysticism and perverted Scrip- 
ture, and straightway the Gordian knot is untied. The 
simplicity of explanation fills us with amazement, and we 
wonder that it was never done before. 

2. The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem respecting the 
Sacred Scripture, next demands our attention. The primary 
truth of this treatise is, that the Sacred Scripture, or the 
Word, is Divine Truth itself, thus the Lord himself. Let 
us see how this can be. 

We are too apt to abstract books from their authors, and 
to regard them as matters impersonal,- — as type and paper 
merely. Now this is a childish error, and a proof of the 
loose and external way in which we are accustomed to think. 
When I speak, or write, I manifest spiritual influences ; and 
the force of these influences is proportionate to my earnest- 
ness, and their effect is proportionate to the state of reception 
of my hearers. Words are thus perceived to be the repre- 
sentatives of spiritual forces. The action of spirit on spirit 
is inappreciable by the senses ; but could we look behind the 
vail of nature when a crowd or a congregation is swayed 
hither and thither by the speech of one man, we should see 
that the influence exerted was as real and actual as muscu- 
lar force. From this we learn that words are not mere 
sounds, but are the sheaths or cases of spiritual life, and on 
this ground we at once see the force of the Lord's declara- 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 145 

tion, " The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and 
they are life." John vi. 63. 

When we think of the Lord's words, we must conjoin with 
the thought an idea of the Divine Nature and Attributes. 
The Lord's speech being the manifestation of His life, must 
partake of its every quality, thus of infinity and of inde- 
pendence of time, and consequently of adaptation to every 
possible condition of mind, for infinity includes all. Bear- 
ing these facts in mind, we can easily perceive how true it is 
that the Word is the Lord Himself. 

But while the Word in its inmost is the Lord, and is thus 
infinite, yet as apprehended by man, who is finite, it neces- 
sarily wears a finite aspect. It is plain that as man's ideas 
become sensualized and bound down to matter, his view of 
the Divine Truth, or Word, must involve many illusions; 
true, certainly, in relation to him, but very far removed from 
the absolute Divine Truth. Now the literal sense of the 
Word, as we read it in our Bibles, is the presentation, if we 
may so phrase it, of the aspect of the Lord to the natural 
man, whose senses constitute his court of appeal. The Jews, 
to whom the Word in its literal sense was delivered, were 
just such men. 

Above this natural state of mind, there are two marked 
grades of intelligence — the spiritual and celestial. To these, 
the Lord's words bear a far wider meaning, and are more 
fully instinct with the glory of the Divine Wisdom, and the 
warmth of the Divine Love. 

It is thus said that the Word of God has three senses — 
the natural, the spiritual, and the celestial. We attribute 
these senses to the Word : more correctly we should charge 
them to the universal human mind, whose capacity of re- 
ception they express. To no two men, or angels, does the 
Lord, — or in fact anything, — bear precisely the same appear- 
ance, or suggest the same meaning. 
' 13 G 



146 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

These three grades, separated by discrete degrees, make 
up the universe of humanity ; and the enlightened eye of the 
true philosopher may trace in every object of external crea- 
tion an image and representation of them. But space for- 
bids further explanation on this head ; our author's reasoning 
is, moreover, so closely linked as to admit of no curtailment. 
Suffice to say, that after demonstrating the existence of an 
internal sense in the Scripture, he proceeds to show the many 
uses of the literal sense, and, at the same time, the manifold 
abuses to which it is liable, when the laws by which it is 
written are not understood. 

Accepting the sublime philosophy of this treatise, we find 
in it a perfect refuge from the attacks of the sceptic, and 
discover a thousand reasons for one we had before, for loving 
God's Holy Book, trusting in its wisdom, and committing 
our lives to its guidance. 

3. The Doctrine of Faith of the New Jerusalem, may be 
best understood by a few extracts from the treatise itself. 
Swedenborg writes : " The idea attached to the term faith at 
the present day is this, that it consists in thinking a thing to 
be so, because it is taught by the church, and because it does 
not fall within the scope of the understanding. For it is 
usual with those who inculcate it, to say, 'You must believe, 
and not doubt.' If you answer: 'I do not comprehend it/ 
it is replied : * That is the very circumstance which makes a 
doctrine an object of faith.' Thus the faith of the present 
day is a faith in what is not known, and may be called a 
blind faith : and as being the dictate of one person abiding 
in the mind of another, it is a historical faith. But this is 
not spiritual faith. 

" Genuine faith is an acknowledgment that a thing is so, 
because it is true. For he who is in genuine faith thinks 
and speaks to this effect: — 'This is true; and therefore I 
believe it.' For faith is the assurance with which we embrace 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 147 

that which is true; and that which is true is the proper 
object of faith. A person of this character, also, if he does 
not comprehend a sentiment, and see its truth, will say: 'I 
do not know whether this is true or not; therefore I do not 
yet believe it. How can I believe what I do not compre- 
hend? Perhaps it may be false.' 

"But the common language is, that nobody can compre- 
hend things of a spiritual or theological nature, because they 
transcend our natural faculties. Spiritual truths, however, 
are as capable of being comprehended as natural truths. 
The reason that spiritual things admit of being comprehenedd, 
is, because man, as to his understanding, is capable of being 
elevated into the light of heaven, in which light no other 
objects appear than such as are spiritual. 

"Hence now it is that those who are in the spiritual 
affection of truth, enjoy an internal acknowledgment of it. 
As the angels are in that affection, they utterly reject the 
tenet that the understanding ought to be kept in subjection 
to faith : for they say, t How can you believe a thing, when 
you do not see whether it is true or not?' And should any 
one affirm that what he advances must nevertheless be 
believed, they reply: 'Do you think yourself a God, that I 
am to believe you? or that I am mad, that I should believe 
an assertion in which I do not see any truth? If I must 
believe it, cause me to see it/ The dogmatizer is thus 
constrained to retire. Indeed, the wisdom of the angels 
consists solely in this, that they see and comprehend what 
they think. 

" There is a spiritual idea of which few have any knowledge, 
which enters by influx into the minds of those who are in 
the affection of truth, and dictates interiorly whether the 
thing which they are hearing or reading is true or not. In 
this idea are those who read the Word in illumination from 
the Lord. To be in illumination is to be in perception. 



148 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

Those who are in this illumination are said to be taught 
of Jehovah, and of them it is said in Jeremiah: 'Behold, 
the days come that I will make a new covenant : — this shall 
be the covenant, — I will put my law in their inward parts, 
and write it in their hearts; and they shall teach no more 
every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 
Know ye the Lord; for they shall all know me.' xxxi. 31, 
33, 34. 

"From these considerations it is plain that faith and truth 
are one. This also is the reason that the ancients, who were 
more accustomed to think of truth from affection than the 
moderns, instead of faith used the word truth : and for the 
same reason, in the Hebrew language, truth and faith are 
expressed by one and the same word, amuna, or amen. 

" If any one thinks with himself, or says to another, ' Who 
can have that internal acknowledgment of truth which is 
faith? I can not/ I will tell him how he may. Shun 
evils as sins, and apply to the Lord; then you will have as 
much as you desire." 

Such then is the New Church doctrine of faith. Faith is 
the perception and acknowledgment of truth from a right 
understanding of it. True faith is something that grows. 
It is not the gift of a moment. It is attained by leading a 
good life, and through obedience to the truth so far as we 
know it. In the course of time we find that a pure life is 
clearing our spiritual vision, and extending its range. Spir- 
itual truths which we had laid up in our memories, and 
perhaps fancied that we had believed, are brought forth, are 
seen in new and striking light, are elevated into the under- 
standing, aud are in reality believed. Thus a living faith is 
attained. This doctrine finds a Divine seal in these words 
of the Lord: "If any man will do his will, he shall know 
of the doctrine, whether it be of God." John vii. 17. 

The remainder of this little treatise is taken up with an 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. • 149 

exposure of the fallacies involved in the common doctrines 
of faith prevailing in the Protestant and Roman Catholic 
churches. Faith separated from charity, is proved to have 
no existence, because evil can by no possibility love truth. 
Spiritual and Divine Truth may, it is true, be reasoned 
upon, defended, and expounded, by wicked men, for the 
promotion of their own selfish ends ; but internally they are 
in deep hatred and denial of them, and in the other life their 
detestation of them causes them to cast them forth even 
from the memory. Thus the wicked have no faith and no 
truth. 

4. The treatise on the Doctrine of Life is a brief and 
compendious exposition of the nature of that life which leads 
to heaven and happiness. In the first place, it asserts that 
all religion has relation to life, and that the life of religion is 
to do good; agreeable to the Lord's saying: "He that hath 
my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth 
me." John xiii. 17. It is then shown that no one can do 
good, which is really good, from himself, as is taught in 
John, where we read: "A man can receive nothing, except 
it be given him from heaven," iii. 27; and again: "He that 
abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much 
fruit; for without me ye can do nothing;" — "He that abideth 
in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit," 
signifies that all good is from the Lord ; fruit signifies good : 
"without me ye can do nothing," signifies that no one can 
do good from himself. 

Now, it may be asked, "Why can a man not do good of 
himself?" For this simple reason, that, as there is no good- 
ness out of the Lord, if man does good, his power and dis- 
position to do it must, in all certainty, be derived from the 
Lord alone. Man, in his highest state, is but a medium for 
the manifestation of the Divine Life or Goodness. Yet 
while only a medium, he must act in freedom, as of himself. 



150 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

The appearance is that the good he does is self-originated, and 
born of his own will; and this appearance can never be re-, 
moved, because on it depends his freedom of action. Man 
must subdue all tendencies to spiritual pride arising there- 
from, by habitual reference to the truth that the Lord is all 
in all; and that if he has done good, or been useful, he has 
been indebted for the motive as well as for the wisdom, to 
the Divine Mercy alone; as Paul said to the Philippians: 
" For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do 
of his good pleasure." ii. 15. While thus saved by the Di- 
vine Mercy, through a good life, and brought into spiritual 
health by obedience to divine laws, man has no reason what- 
ever to boast, or to take credit to himself for his bliss and 
salvation. The advocates of justification and salvation by 
faith alone, charge spiritual pride and merit, as a necessity, 
upon all who believe that heaven and its happiness are 
attained through the regenerative influence of a good life ; 
but this accusation falls to the ground when it is acknow- 
ledged that the power to lead a good life is the continual 
gift and inspiration of God. If man would only think 
truly, he would see that humility is the acknowledgment of 
the grand primal truth of existence, that nothing we have 
or can do that is good, is of ourselves, but solely of the 
Lord; and that just as we are left to ourselves and our own 
wisdom, we do evil, and perpetrate folly and mischief. Sal- 
vation through a good life, when thus rightly stated and 
understood, is seen to involve nothing of merit, but only the 
strongest reasons for gratitude, humility, and worship. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 151 



CHAPTER XVII. 

The Divine Zove and Divine Wisdom. — The Continuation of the JLast 
Judgment, 

The treatise on the Divine Love and Wisdom, is a book 
which, when mastered, affords a key to the whole philosophy 
of the New Church, and to a rational understanding of all 
the writings of Swedenborg. When we say this, it will be 
easily understood that it is not a book to be read in a few 
hours, or hastily glanced over. Every page is pregnant with 
thought, and many of its peragraphs might be expanded 
into volumes. It is a book which, full of thought on the 
deepest subjects, demands an exercise of like thought on the 
part of its reader; and if he has patience, and a simple love 
of truth for its own sake, happy will he be when he has 
made himself familiar with the divine thoughts which, like 
stars, gem every page of this matchless treatise. 

The book is divided into five Parts. The First Part sets 
forth, in the simplest language, the doctrine of the Divine 
Nature. The Lord's essence is shown to be Infinite Love, 
and its manifestation to be Infinite Wisdom. It is proved 
that the Divine Love is the only life in the universe, and 
that in God "all things live, move, and have their being." 
The Lord is also proved to be very and essential Man, yet 
above and independent of all space and time, filling all 
spaces of the universe without space, and all time without 
time ; and being in the greatest and the least things evermore 
the same. These statements may appear inconsequential, 



152 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

but in our limited space, we can not explain more fully. 
We could not give the proofs satisfactorily, without quoting 
the volume itself. Argument is so linked to argument, that 
they hardly admit of separation. 

The Second Part of the work treats of the sun of heaveu, 
and the sun of our world. It is shown that from the Lord 
flows a Divine Sphere, which appears in the spiritual world 
as a sun. From its heat, angels and man have their love, 
and from its light their wisdom, thus their life. This sun is 
not God, but it is the first proceeding from the Divine Love 
and the Divine Wisdom of God-Man. By means of this 
sun the Lord created the universe and all things in it. The 
sun of the natural world is pure fire, and therefore dead ; and 
since nature derives its origin from that sun, it also is dead. 
Without two suns, the one living and the other dead, there 
could be no creation. The end of creation is, that all things 
may return to the Creator, and conjunction may exist in its 
ultimates. 

Part Third declares that in the spiritual world there are 
atmospheres, waters and earths, as in the natural world; but 
that the former are spiritual, whereas the latter are natural. 
We are then introduced to the doctrine of degrees — a doc- 
trine which must be studied and understood, before any one 
can with justice speak of Swedenborg; for it is a doctrine 
which lies at the basis of that peerless spiritual philosophy 
of which he was the promulgator. All that we can do here 
in the way of exposition, is to quote the heads of his articles 
which express the truth far more lucidly than we could do. 

"There are three degrees of Love and wisdom, and thence 
degrees of heat and light, and degrees of atmosphere. De- 
grees are of two kinds, degrees of altitude and degrees of 
latitude. The degrees of altitude are homogeneous, and 
one derived from the other in a series, like end, cause, and 
effect. The first degree is in all the subsequent degrees. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 153 

All perfections increase and ascend with degrees, and accord- 
ing to degrees. In successive order the first degree consti- 
tutes the highest, and the third the lowest ; but in simulaneous ' 
order, the first degree constitutes the inmost, and the third 
the outmost. The ultimate degree is the complex, continent, 
and basis, of the prior degrees. The degrees of altitude in 
their ultimate, are in their fullness and power. There are 
degrees of both kinds in the greatest and least of all created 
things. There are three infinite and uncreated degrees of 
altitude in the Lord, and three finite and created degrees in 
man. These three degrees of altitude are in every man 
from his birth, and may be opened successively, and as they 
are opened, a man is in the Lord, and the Lord in him. 
Spiritual light flows into man by three degrees, but not 
spiritual heat, except so far as he avoids evils as sins, and 
looks to the Lord. If the superior or spiritual degree is not 
opened in a man, he becomes natural and sensual. The 
natural degree of the human mind, considered in itself, is 
continuous, but by correspondence with the two superior de- 
grees, while it is elevated, it appears as if it were discrete. 

" The natural mind, being the tegument and continent of 
the higher degrees of the human mind, is a re-agent ; and if 
the superior degrees are not opened, it acts against them, but 
if they are opened, it acts with them. The abuse of the fa- 
culties which are proper to man, called rationality and lib- 
erty, is the origin of evil. A bad man may enjoy these two 
faculties as well as a good man; but a bad man abuses 
them to confirm evils and falses, while a good man uses 
them to confirm goods and truths. Evils and falses, when 
confirmed, remain ; and become parts of a man's love and 
life. The things which become parts of a man's love and 
thence of his life, are communicated hereditarily to his 
offspring. 

"All these evils and consequent falses, both hereditary and 



154 LIFE AND WRITINGS OP 

acquired, reside in the natural mind. Evils and falses are 
entirely opposed to goods and truths; because evils and 
• falses are diabolical and infernal, and goods and truths are 
divine and heavenly. The natural mind, which is in evils 
and falses, is a form and image of hell, and descends by 
three degrees. These three degrees of the natural mind, 
which is an image and form of hell, are opposed to the three 
degrees of the spiritual mind, which is a form and image of 
heaven : thus the natural mind which is a hell, is in com- 
plete opposition to the spiritual mind which is a heaven. 
All things of the three degrees of the natural mind, are 
included in works, which are performed by acts of the 
body." 

Part Fourth teaches that the Lord from eternity, who is 
Jehovah, created the universe and all things therein from 
Himself, and not from nothing ; this would not have been 
possible if the Lord were not a Divine Man ; He from him- 
self producing the sun of the spiritual world, and by it cre- 
ating all things. In the substances and matters of which 
earths consist, there is nothing of the Divine in itself; but 
still they are from the Divine in itself. All created things 
in the created universe, viewed from uses, represent man in 
an image ; this testifies that God is Man. All things cre- 
ated by the Lord are uses ; and they are uses in the order, 
degree, and respect, in which they have relation to man, 
and by man to the Lord their Creator. Evil uses were not 
created by the Lord, but originated together with hell, after 
man's fall. The visible things in the created universe testify 
that nature has produced nothing, and does produce no- 
thing; but that the Divine has produced and does produce 
all things from Himself, and through the spiritual world. 

Part Fifth is devoted to a description of man's spiritual 
nature. It is shown that " the Lord has formed and created 
in man two receptacles and habitations for Himself, called 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 155 

the will and the understanding; the will for His Divine 
Love, and the understanding for His Divine Wisdom. The 
will and understanding are in the brains, in the whole and 
every part thereof, and thence in the body, in the whole and 
every part thereof. There is a correspondence of the will 
with the heart, and of the understanding with the lungs; 
and all things that can be known of the will and under- 
standing, or of love and wisdom, consequently all that can 
be known of man's soul, may, be known from the correspon- 
dence of the heart with the will, and of the understanding 
with the lungs." 

There are many volumes in the world whose thinly spun 
thought, spread over page after page, it would be easy to 
condense into one brief paragraph; but the treatise on the 
Divine Love and Wisdom is not such a work. It is one of 
those rare books which suggest and expand thought, but can 
bear no abridgment or compression. We have well studied 
it, but do not expect to finish it during our life on earth. 
Time was, when, immersed in man made systems of faith, 
and wont to walk abroad in the green fields and woods, by 
the sea-side, and on the mountains — we found it difficult, nay 
we should rather say impossible, to see the God we read of 
in our books, and thought of in our chamber, to be the same 
kind Father to whom those wide and beauteous scenes owed 
their existence. Justification by faith — Jerusalem — the Jews 
— ephod and teraphim — the Temple, and the sacrifice — 
seemed to have no connection with the landscape, the wind, 
the falling rain, the flowing river, and the broad and limit- 
less ocean. We knew it should not be so. If the Bible 
were God's book, it must have some closer affinity with his 
great work of nature. We knew that one Lord was over 
all, and that this disunity should by no means exist. Much 
mental pain and travail were our portion. The easy sooth- 
sayings of Atheism* beguiled us. We " wandered in the 



156 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

wilderness in a solitary way, and found no city (doctrine) 
to dwell in." "We longed for the rest of Zion. We sighed 
not in vain. The divine philosophy of this precious book 
was revealed to us, and we knew the blessing of a faith 
which finds a confirmation in every item and phase of crea- 
tion, and makes the Bible and nature evermore at one, each 
confirming and illustrating the other. It gave to life new 
aims and aspects. It brought a mental peace we had 
never hoped to enjoy, and we went on our journey of life 
rejoicing. 

"The Continuation of the Last Judgment," is a small 
pamphlet forming a supplement to the treatise on the Last 
Judgment, with which it is now generally published. It 
contains a very interesting account of the Last Judgment 
upon the Keformed. By the Reformed, upon whom the 
Last Judgment was effected, Swedenborg means those who 
professed a belief in God, read the Word, heard sermons, 
partook of the sacrament of the Supper, yet lived in all 
manner of evils. Living like Christians in externals, and 
outwardly in unity with heaven, while inwardly united with 
hell, they were permitted after death to form societies, and 
to live as in the world; and by arts unknown in the world, 
to cause splendid appearances, and by this means to persuade 
themselves and others that they were in heaven. From this 
outward appearance, therefore, they called their societies 
heavens. The heavens and the lands in which they dwelt, 
are understood by the "former heaven, and the former earth, 
which passed away." Rev. xxi. 7. 

At the time of the Last Judgment, the hypocrisy of these 
spirits was revealed in the light of heaven, and the simple 
good with whom they had associated, separated themselves 
with horror from them. No longer able to simulate Chris- 
tian lives, they rushed with delight into evils and crimes 
of every description, openly appeared as devils, and found 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 157 

for themselves the hells corresponding to their loves. At 
the same time all the splendid appearances they had made 
for themselves vanished away; their palaces were turned 
into vile huts; their gardens into stagnant pools; their 
temples into piles of rubbish; and the hills on which they 
dwelt, into heaps of gravel, in correspondence with their 
depraved dispositions and lusts. 

"After the Judgment was effected," writes Swedenborg, 
"there was joy in heaven, and also light in the world of 
spirits, such as was not before. A similar light also then 
arose on men in the world, giving them new enlightenment. 
I then saw angelic spirits, in great numbers, rising 'from 
below, and elevated into heaven. They were the sheep there 
reserved, and guarded by the Lord for ages back, lest they 
should come into the malignant sphere of the dragonists, 
and their charity be suffocated. These are they who are 
understood in the Word by those who went forth from the 
sepulchers ; also by the souls of those slain for the testimony 
of Jesus, who were watching; and by those who are of the 
first resurrection." 

After this follows a description of many things seen in the 
spiritual world. He writes: "There are lands in the spiritual 
world, just as in the natural world: there are hills and 
mountains, plains and valleys, also fountains and rivers, 
lakes and seas ; there are paradises, and gardens and groves, 
and woods, and palaces, and houses ; there are writings, and 
books, functions, [functiones,~] and employments; there are 
precious stones, gold and silver; in short, there are all the 
things, in general and in particular, which exist in the 
natural world; but in the heavens all these things are 
infinitely more perfect." 

He then describes "the noble English nation" in the 
spiritual world; the more excellent of whom are in the 
centre of all Christians, because they have interior intellectual 



158 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

light, This light they derive from the liberty they enjoy 
of thinking, and thence of speaking and writing. The Dutch 
are then described, and then the Papists, and the Popish 
saints. The Mohammedans, the Africans, and the Gentiles 
follow; and finally the Jews, the Quakers, and the Mora- 
vians. The description of all these people, as they appear 
beyond the grave, has an interest of a most absorbing kind ; 
and the light thrown by Swedenborg on their internal 
character, serves to show cause for much that happens in 
the external world, otherwise difficult of explanation. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 159 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
JLngelic Wisdom Concealing the Divine Providence. 

Still living in Amsterdam, Swedenborg published, in 
1764, his work entitled "Angelic Wisdom Concerning the 
Divine Providence." Its purpose is to 

" assert eternal Providence, 
And justify the ways of God to man." 

In the first place, it is shown that the Divine Providence 
is the government of the Love and the Wisdom of the Lord. 
This Providence has for its sole end the formation of a 
heaven from the human race, and thus has respect only to 
what is infinite and eternal. In the Divine sight, things 
temporal and natural are of no importance except so far as 
they contribute to man's salvation. 

Although the Lord thus wills and works for man's eternal 
happiness, yet, after all, heaven- can only be attained through 
man's cooperation. The Lord ever performs his share of the 
work, but man too often fails to do his. Weeping over 
Jerusalem, the Lord exclaimed: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 
thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are 
sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children 
together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her 
wings, and ye would not!" Matthew xxiii. 37. How pow- 
erfully and tenderly is here expressed the Divine willingness 
to save, and how pointedly and decisively is man's misery 
attributed to his own obstinacy. As the Lord Jesus is 



160 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

another place says: "Ye will not come to me that ye might 
have life." John v. 40. 

In all the operations of the Divine Providence, human 
freedom is respected. The Lord forces no man to do what 
is good, or believe what is true. He drives none to heaven. 
It is of the Divine Providence that whatsoever a man hears, 
sees, thinks, speaks, and does, should appear altogether as 
his own. Without this appearance, men would have no 
reception of Divine Truth, no determination to do good, no 
appropriation of love and wisdom or of charity and faith, 
and thence no conjunction with the Lord; consequently no 
reformation and regeneration, and thereby salvation. With- 
out this appearance, it is evident there could be no repent- 
ance and no faith; and man would not be man, but void 
of rational life like a beast. It is plain, then, that in order 
that man may be saved, he must be induced to live a good 
life by means which in nowise trench upon this appearance 
of free and independent life. Regeneration is effected by 
man's removing evils from his external life, as of himself; 
yet, knowing that all good and truth is from the Lord, he 
acknowledges, as a consequence, that all power to remove 
these evils is derived from the Lord alone. 

Intensely as the Lord desires that man should shun evils 
and lead a holy life in obedience to his commandments, yet 
He only seeks to win man to peace and heaven by means 
which do not infringe upon his freedom. It is a law of 
His Divine Providence, that man should not be forced by 
external means to think and will, and so to believe and love 
the things which are of religion. It has been asked by 
atheists, " If there be a God, why does he not write so on the 
sun, and so save men from unbelief?" Swedenborg answers 
this question most satisfactorily, by showing that miracles, 
signs, visions, conversations with the dead, threats, and 
punishments, are totally ineffective to produce that state of 



EMANUEL SWEDENB011G. 161 

love and spiritual life which make true happiness and hea- 
ven ; because these force, and destroy the rationality and 
liberty which constitute the inmost life of humanity, and by 
the exercise of which, man can alone be delivered from 
evil. 

Let us read Swedenborg's testimony on miracles. He 
writes : " That such is the nature of miracles, may plainly 
appear from those wrought before the Jewish and Israelitish 
people. Although they saw so many miracles in Egypt, after- 
wards at the Red Sea, others in the Desert, and especially 
upon Mount Sinai, when the law was promulgated, yet, in 
the space of a month, when Moses tarried upon that moun- 
tain, they made themselves a golden calf, and acknowledged 
it for Jehovah who brought them out of the land of Egypt. 
The same also may appear from the miracles wrought after- 
wards in the land of Canaan, notwithstanding which the 
people so often departed from the worship that was com- 
manded ; and from the miracles which the Lord wrought 
before them when he was in the world, notwithstanding 
which they crucified him. The reason why miracles were 
wrought among the Jews and Israelites was, because they 
were altogether external men, and were introduced into the 
land of Canaan merely that they might represent a church 
and its internal principles by the external things of worship ; 
and a wicked man may be representative, as well as a good 
man. The external things of worship among them were 
rituals, all which signified spiritual and celestial things. 
Even Aaron, although he made the golden calf, and con- 
ducted the worship of it, could, nevertheless, represent the 
Lord and his work of salvation. And as they could not, 
by the internal principles of worship, be led to represent 
these things, therefore they were led, yea forced and com- 
pelled, to do it by miracles. The reason why they could not 
be brought to such representation by the internal principles 



162 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

of worship was, because they did not acknowledge the Lord, 
although the whole Word, which was among them, treats of 
Him only ; and he who does not acknowledge the Lord, can 
not receive any internal worship. But after the Lord mani- 
fested himself, and was received and acknowledged in the 
churches as the eternal God, miracles ceased. 

" The effect of miracles upon the good, however, is different 
from what it is upon the wicked. The good do not desire 
miracles, but they believe the miracles which are recorded 
in the Word; aud if they hear anything of a miracle, they 
attend no otherwise to it than as a light argument which 
confirms their faith ; for they think from the Word, conse- 
quently from the Lord, and not from a miracle. It is other- 
wise with the wicked: they indeed may be driven and forced 
into faith, and even into worship and piety, but only for a 
short time; for their evils being shut in, the inclinations 
thereto, and the delights thence derived, continually act 
against the external of their worship and piety ; and in order 
that these evils may escape from confinement and break 
out, they think about the miracle, and at length call it a de- 
lusion, or an artifice, or an operation of nature, and so return 
into their evils ; and he who returns into his evils after wor- 
ship, profanes the truths and goods of worship, and the lot of 
profaners after death is the worst of all. Besides, if miracles 
were to be wrought before those who do not believe in con- 
sequence of the miracles recorded in the Word, they must 
be continually performed, and constantly presented to their 
view. From these considerations, the reason may appear 
why miracles are not performed at this day." 

It is thus seen that the Lord will not force a man to 
lead a good life; because, in forcing him, his humanity would 
be destroyed, and all that makes life worthy and manly 
would be lost, seeing that the exercise of rationality and 
liberty would be annihilated. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 163 

It is a law of the Divine Providence, that a man should 
be led and taught from the Lord out of heaven by the Word, 
and by doctrine and preaching from the Word, and this in 
all appearance as from himself. The Lord, as we have be- 
fore seen, is the Word ; and when man reads the Word, he 
brings his thought into contact with the Divine Wisdom, 
and when he obeys its teachings he is in very truth led by 
the Lord. Yet we all see that this teaching and leading of 
the Lord is effected without any violation of man's freedom, 
for he is led and taught in externals to all appearance as 
of himself. 

It is a law of the Divine Providence that a man should 
not perceive and feel anything of the operation of the Di- 
vine Providence, but yet should know and acknowledge it. 
If a man perceived and felt the operation of the Divine 
Providence, he would not act from liberty according to rea- 
son, nor would anything appear to him as his own. It 
would also be the same if he foreknew events. " The reason 
why it is not granted man to foreknow events, is, that he 
may be able to act from liberty according to reason ; also, 
that there is nothing that a man revolves in his reason which 
is not from a desire that it may come into effect by thought. 
If, therefore, he knew the effect or event from divine predic- 
tion, reason would become quiescent, and with reason love ; 
for love, with reason, terminates in the effect, and from that 
begins anew. It is the very delight of reason, that from 
love in the thought it may see the effect, — not in the effect, 
but before it, or not in the present, but in the future. Hence 
a man has what is called Hope, which in reason increases 
and decreases, as it sees or expects the event. This delight 
is fulfilled in the event, but afterwards is obliterated with the 
thought concerning the event ; and it would be the same 
with an event foreknown." The whole zest of life would be 
dissipated could man foreknow the future. 



164 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

While the operation of the Divine Providence is thus 
veiled from man's eyes, and it appears to him that he is alone 
in the world, and that on his small prudence hangs all 
things, — if he would be wise he must not be led by appear- 
ances, but rising above them, acknowledge the truth " that 
self-derived prudence is nothing, and only appears as if it 
were something, [and ought so to appear;] but that the Divine 
Providence in things most singular is universal." And 
because our life and intelligence are momentarily derived 
from the Lord, it follows as a necessary consequence, that 
all which we do that is orderly and effective, is done by 
the Lord, through our yielding ourselves to Him as His 
instruments. 

It is often urged as a reason against believing in an over- 
ruling and universal Divine Providence, that the world is 
full of evil and wickedness ; and if there be an omnipotent 
God, he would surely never suifer such things to exist. 
Swedenborg enters very fully into this question. The rea- 
sons why Adam was permitted to fall, and Cain to slay 
Abel ; Solomon to establish idolatrous worship, and many 
kings after him to profane the holy things of the church ; 
the Jews to crucify the Lord ; why impiety is allowed to ex- 
ist, and the impious and profligate to be promoted to riches 
and honors, while the worshipers of God and the doers of 
righteousness remain in contempt and poverty ; why wars 
are permitted, men slaughtered, the property of the innocent 
destroyed, and victories go with force and not with justice ; 
why the earth is permitted to remain covered with idolatries, 
and the Christian religion to occupy so small a place, and 
even there to be deeply corrupted and devastated with here- 
sies, — are stated at length and most satisfactorily. It is 
made plain, that, were the Lord to interfere and prevent 
such evils by force, it would defeat the end for which He 
created man, namely, salvation and eternal life in heaven. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 165 

Now as man can only be regenerated and enter heaven 
through the free exercise of his understanding and free 
choice of his will, any external interference of the Divine 
Providence with outward circumstances would suspend the 
action of man's faculties ; would, in short, dehumanise the 
race, and leave only animals to be dealt with. It is not of 
the Lord's will, indeed, that evil should exist; and His 
Providence is unceasingly exerted to modify and mitigate it, 
alike in its origin and in its effect ; but, since to prevent its 
manifestation would be to take from man all that makes him 
man, its permission is a necessity. 

It was said that the Providence of the Lord is unceas- 
ingly exerted to modify and mitigate evil, alike in its origin 
and in its effects. Swedenborg very beautifully and amply 
illustrates this truth, and shows that the Divine Providence 
is equally with the wicked and the good. The wicked man, 
of his own free choice, continually plunges himself more 
and more deeply into evil ; because as he wills and does evil, 
he introduces himself more and more deeply into infernal 
societies. But the Lord, by a thousand invisible means, 
continually withdraws him from evil ; and where a cure or 
complete prevention is impossible, mitigates his fearful fate 
by providing circumstances and situations in life which serve 
to lead the evil into less hurtful developments. The opera- 
tion of the Divine Providence in saving man begins at his 
birth, and continues to the end of his life. The Lord sees 
what a man is, and what he desires to be, consequently what 
he will be ; therefore the Lord foresees his state after death, 
and provides for it from his birth to the end of his life ; with 
the wicked He provides by permitting and continually with- 
drawing them from evils ; with the good He provides by 
leading them to good. Thus the Divine Providence is con- 
tinually in the effort to save men ; but more cannot be saved 
than desire to be saved. Those who acknowledge God and 



166 . LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

are led by Him, desire to be saved ; and those who do not 
acknowledge God, but guide themselves, do not desire to be 
saved : for the latter do not think of eternal life and salva- 
tion, but the former do. This the Lord sees ; but still He 
leads them according to the laws of His Divine Providence, 
against which He cannot act, for to act against them would 
be to act against Himself. Now, as the Lord foresees the 
states of all after death, and knows the places of those who 
are not willing to be saved, He, as far as is consistent with 
human freedom, labors to soften man's evil ; and if He can- 
not lead him to heaven, still preserves him from sinking to 
the lowest hell. 

From this it follows that every man may be reformed, 
that there is no such thing as predestination, and that it is a 
man's own fault if he is not saved. All are created for 
heaven, and none for hell ; and if man sink into perdition, 
he does so through his own obstinacy, and through the 
deliberate choice of a life of evil. As saith the Apostle: 
" The Lord is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any 
should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2 
Peter iii. 9. And the Lord himself says: "Fear not, little 
flock; it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the king- 
dom" Luke xii. 32. 

Such, in brief, are a few of the principles in the treatise 
on the Divine Providence. Nothing but a perusal of the 
work can give an adequate idea of its multiplicity of details, 
from the laws which regulate the affairs of kingdoms, to 
those which govern games of chance; and all expounded 
with a lucidity of thought, which finds few parallels in works 
on such recondite themes. No book in the whole circle 
of literature more satisfactorily disposes of the objections 
against religion, current among secularists and worldlings. 
The inward temptations and doubts of the devout heart, and 
the weariness, cares, and fret of life, are shown in its pages 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG/ 167 

to be all permitted by that Divine Love which suffers not a 
sparrow to fall unheeded; and the minutest incidents of life 
are seen to be forever encircled by that Omniscience, which 
knows how most effectually to guard us from evil and draw 
us into the holy courts of heaven. 

Any view which we take of the Divine Providence that 
does not recognize this life as a beginning, a progress, and 
not a consummation, is necessarily erroneous. Life here is 
but a discipline, an apprenticeship. It is a school wherein 
we are scholars, learning such lessons as will fit us for uses 
in a higher and eternal sphere. Were life consummated by 
what men call death, we might have reason to complain 
that the comforts and pleasures of existence were so unequally 
distributed ; and the natural man might exclaim with the 
Psalmist: "I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the 
prosperity of the wicked. They are not in trouble as other 
men; neither are they plagued like other men. Their eyes 
stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could 
wish. Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the 
world; they increase in riches." But when we look at the 
matter from higher grounds, and in the light of the Divine 
wisdom, or as the Psalmist did when he said: "I went into 
the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end: how are 
they brought into desolation as in a moment! they are 
utterly consumed with terrors:" — "The evil doers shall be 
cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit 
the earth : for yet a little while, and the wicked shall not 
be; yea thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall 
not be: for the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not 
his saints ;" — then we obtain a right view of the matter, and 
find an all-sufficient reason for being patient and not fretting 
ourselves. Hard though our lot in life may seem, let us 
remember that 



168 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

"The vain and fleeting things of earth, 
(Though counted vain, alas! by few,) 
In his esteem are nothing worth, 
Who keeps eternal ends in view." 

Or, as Cowper says : 

" The path of sorrow and that path alone, 
Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown. 
No traveler ever reached that blest abode 
Who found not thorns and briers in his road.' 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 169 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Life in Amsterdam— Character* of the Dtttch— Meets Dr. Beyer— 
Republishes his "New Method of Finding the Longitudes"— The 
Apocalypse Explained, 

It is very trying to the biographer of Swedenborg that he 
can find so little to narrate of his outward life. Of his life 
in Amsterdam Ave have no particulars whatever, No Bos- 
well was there to note down his sayings, describe his doings, 
his company, and conduct. But had even a Boswel-1 been 
there, we fear he would have found but little to note. Quiet 
days in his study, calm reserve toward all around, musing, 
solitary rambles in the streets, would supply but few inci- 
dents for the pen of the biographer. We must be content 
to know that, from out his quiet study in Amsterdam, 
proceeded books destined to be centers of spiritual light to 
the church and to the world. 

Swedenborg liked the Dutch, and with good reason, for 
he was favored to know them in that land where the secrets 
of all hearts are unvailed. He reports that the Dutch, 
above all other people, are under the influence of the 
spiritual love of trade, valuing it for its uses, and regarding 
money only as a means to these uses, and not, like the Jews, 
as the final end. They are, moreover, inflexible in their 
obedience to the truth, when known; and in many other 
respects are an estimable people. 

It is probable that Swedenborg returned home toward the 
end of 1764; for in the first half of the next year, we find 
him in Stockholm. Soon, however, he set out upon new 
15 H 



170 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

travels; and in 1765, while at Gottenburg, waiting for a 
vessel to England, lie accidentally (as men say) met with Dr. 
Beyer, Professor of Greek, and a member of the Consistory 
of Gottenburg. Having heard that Swedenborg was mad, 
he was surprised to hear him talk sensibly, and manifest no 
symptom of his suspected infirmity. He therefore invited 
Swedenborg to dine with him the following day, in company 
with Dr. Rosen. After dinner, Dr. Beyer expressed a de- 
sire to hear from himself a full account of his doctrines; 
upon which Swedenborg, animated by the request, spoke so 
clearly, and in so wonderful a manner, that the Doctor and 
his friend were quite astonished. They gave him no inter- 
ruption ; but when he ceased, Dr. Beyer requested Sweden- 
borg to meet him the next day at Mr. "Wenngren's and to 
bring with him a paper, containing the substance of his con- 
versation, in order that he might consider it more attentively. 
Swedenborg came the day following, according to promise; 
and, taking the paper out of his pocket, in the presence of 
the other two gentlemen, he trembled, and appeared much 
affected, the tears flowing down his cheeks. Presenting the 
paper to Dr. Beyer, " Sir," said he, " from this day the 
Lord has introduced you into the society of angels, and you 
are now surrounded by them." They were all greatly af- 
fected. He then took his leave, and the next day embarked 
for England. 

♦Dr. Beyer sent immediately for Swedenborg's writings, 
and soon became deeply engrossed in their study. In order 
to arrange their subjects more distinctly in his mind, he set 
about compiling an Index to them ; which as he prepared it, 
he sent, sheet by sheet, to Amsterdam to be printed. He 
was thirteen years in compiling the work, and on the day he 
sent off the last sheet corrected, he sickened, took to his bed, 
and in a few days departed to the spiritual world. 

The result of Dr. Beyer's study of Swedenborg's writings, 



EMANUEL SWEDENBOKG. 171 

was a firm belief in their doctrines, and an open and en- 
lightened advocacy of them, declaring in the public Consis- 
tory his full assent to them. As might naturally be expected, 
he suffered much obloquy and persecution for his adherence 
to the truth ; but he was consoled in having the firm friend- 
ship of SAvedenborg, and in being favored with receiving 
from him many letters, sympathizing with him in his trials, 
and answering many of his questions on doctrinal and 
psychological matters. 

Swedenborg did not make a long stay in England; but 
after a few weeks, or perhaps months, proceeded to Holland, 
spending the winter of 1765-66 at Amsterdam. There, in 
the spring of 1766, he republished (it is supposed by the 
solicitation of friends,) his youthful work on a "New Method 
of Finding the Longitudes." " This method," as he in- 
formed the Swedish Archbishop, Menander, " of calculating 
the ephemerides by pairs of stars, several persons in foreign 
countries were then employing, who had experienced great 
advantage by the observations made according to it for a 
series of years." 

From the time of the completion of the Arcana Coelestia, 
in 1756, Swedenborg had been gradually composing an ex- 
tensive work on the Apocalypse. The exposition was con- 
tinued as far as the tenth verse of the nineteenth chapter, 
filling four large quarto volumes. He then laid the work 
aside — thinking, probably, that it was too voluminous and 
elaborate — and commenced anew, but on a considerably re- 
duced scale. The former Exposition, a clearly written 
manuscript, ready for the printer, after sustaining a narrow 
escape from burning, (the house of a gentleman who had it 
for perusal having caught fire,) was published in the original 
Latin, in four quarto volumes, in 1790, eighteen years after 
the author's death. It was translated into English and 
printed in six octavos, under the title of the Apocalypse 



172 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

Explained, in 1815. It is a most valuable work, and one 
that could not well be spared from the Swedenborg Library. 
Within its pages are several distinct treatises on very im- 
portant subjects, which, if extracted, would form complete 
and excellent books of themselves. The exposition of the 
spiritual sense of the text is very copiously illustrated by 
parallel passages from other parts of the Word; and thus 
it must ever be a most useful work to the New Church 
preacher, as affording him a ready key to the internal sense 
of the Scriptures. 

The shorter exposition Swedenborg himself published at 
Amsterdam, in 1766, under the title of the Apocalypse Re- 
vealed. As was his custom, he distributed copies of the 
work widely, sending it to the universities and superior 
clergy, and to many eminent persons in England, Holland, 
Germany, France, and Sweden. 

We will now make a few notes on some of the most re- 
markable features of Swedenborg's exposition of that strange 
and mysterious book, the Apocalypse. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG 173 



CHAPTER XX. 
The Apocalypse "Revealed, 

Every one who is acquainted with theological literature, 
knows that innumerable volumes of speculation have been 
written in attempted explanation of the Apocalypse. He 
is aware that expositors have differed about it from the ear- 
liest times ; that Protestants have found Catholicism the 
subject of all its denunciations, and that Catholics have dis- 
covered that Paganism and Protestant heresy were in reality 
the matters alluded to ; that sceptics have proved that it 
refers to none of these creeds, but is a worthless astrological 
treatise ; and that many good Christians, vexed and wearied 
with this endless contest of opinion, have wished the book 
expunged from the canon of Scripture, as altogether incom- 
prehensible, and a mere breeder of strife. And still the 
controversy goes on. The press swarms with volumes and 
pamphlets, all professing to have found the key to the mys- 
tery, informing the world of the future destiny of Europe, 
of the result of its wars and battles, the precise month of 
the fall of the Papacy, and the time of the descent of the 
New Jerusalem, the Second Advent, and the restoration of 
the Jews to Canaan, and, so far as the political arrangement 
of the kingdoms of the earth is concerned, almost supersed- 
ing the necessity of newspapers to the credulous believer. 
Wise men generally now turn a deaf ear to these soothsay- 
ings, convinced by long and repeated experience of their 
utter futility, and thinking shrewdly enough that had the 



174 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

Divine Providence intended that man should know the fu- 
ture, the foreknowledge would have been communicated 
intelligibly and not through the medium of mysteries inter- 
preted by men more conspicious for temerity than for any 
endowment of wisdom or common sense above their fellows. 
" It is a part of this prophecy," as Sir Isaac Newton remarks, 
— and the same principle is applicable to all prophecies, — 
" that it should not be understood before the last age of the 
world ; and therefore it makes for the credit of the proph- 
ecy that it is not yet [about 1710] understood. The folly 
of interpreters has been, to foretell times and things by this 
prophecy, as if God designed to make them prophets. By 
this rashness, they have not only exposed themselves, but 
brought the prophecy also into contempt. The design of 
God was much otherwise. He gave this, and other prophe- 
cies of the Old Testament, not to gratify men's curiosity by 
enabling them to foreknow things, but that, after they 
were fulfilled, they might be interpreted by the events ; and 
his own Providence, not the interpreters, be then manifested 
thereby to the world. For the event of things, predicted 
many ages before, will then be a convincing argument that 
the world is governed by Providence. For, as the few and 
obscure prophecies concerning Christ's first coming, were for 
setting up the Christian religion, which all nations have since 
corrupted ; so the many and clear prophecies concerning the 
things to be done at Christ's second coming, are not only for 
predicting but also for effecting a recovery and re-establish- 
ment of the long-lost truth, and setting up a kingdom 
wherein dwells righteousness. The event will prove the 
Apocalypse; and this prophecy, thus proved and understood, 
will open the old prophets; and all together will make 
known the true religion, and establish it." 

With no claim to superior understanding or acuteness did 
Swedenborg present his exposition of this mysterious book 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 175 

to the world. He humbly declares that the mysteries of 
the Apocalypse are totally beyond the power of human in- 
tellect to unravel, and that whatever of truth is to be found 
in his work, owed its existence to the immediate illustra- 
tion of his mind by the Lord. We shall presently show 
what powerful reason there was for this protestation on his 
part. 

The Apocalypse, we are taught, is a portion of the Divine 
Word. It was dictated directly by the Lord, — John, in 
Patmos, being simply an amanuensis. 

The Apocalypse is a prophetic book, descriptive of the 
decline and consummation of the Christian Church, and the 
establishment of the new and spiritual dispensation signified 
by "the New Jerusalem descending from God out of 
heaven." Being a prophetic book, it would have been at 
variance with the laws of the Divine Providence for man to 
have understood its prophecies until after the events it de- 
scribed were past ; for, as we have seen, a knowledge of the 
future would take from man all freedom of action, all incli- 
nation to labor, and the whole hope and pleasure, of life. 
Therefore it was that the Apocalypse remained a sealed 
book until the Christian Church had reached its consumma- 
tion, and the Last Judgment was effected, in 1757, when 
the Lord graciously opened the eyes of Swedenborg and 
manifested to him, in clear light, the deep mysteries of this 
prophecy. 

Wilkinson, in his admirable Biography, well says: "A 
volume, unless it were a reprint, would not give an analysis 
of the Apocalypse Revealed. When we say that the com- 
mentary takes the text word by word, and translates it into 
spirit, we still convey but a slender idea of what is done. 
Our own first impressions on reading the work will not soon 
be forgotten. Following the writer through the long breadths 
and flights of this vast empyrean, we were momently in 



176 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

anxious fear that to sustain a context of such was impossi- 
ble. Each fresh chapter seemed like a space that mortal 
wing must not attempt ; and yet the fear was groundless, for 
our guide sailed onward with a tranquil motion as if he knew 
the stars. History and common sense, panting and grasping 
science, philosophy in its better part, above all, the confi- 
dence in a Divine support and a supernal mission, appeared 
to be covertly and unexpectedly present, to annihilate diffi- 
culties, and pave the skyey way of this humble voyager. 
And when we had again alighted from that perusal which 
strained every faculty to the utmost, it was as though we 
had been there before, so entire was the impression of self- 
evidence that was left upon the mind. Genesis and the 
Revelation were closely at one in this marvellous Apoca- 
lypse — thenceforth the most open of the Bible pages : the 
two ends of the Scripture called to each other ; an arch of 
Divine light spanned the river of the Word, and the original 
Eden blossomed anew in the midst of the street of the holy 
city." 

The Rev. O. P. Hiller, in his Memoir of Swedenborg, 
writes: "In the Apocalypse Revealed, the mysterious book 
is taken up and examined chapter by chapter, verse by 
verse, word by word, in the same manner as was done with 
the books of Genesis and Exodus in the Arcana Coelestia; 
and the interior meaning, the spiritual sense, of every part, 
set forth in such a manner as to present a clear, connected, 
and rational meaning throughout the whole book, from the 
first chapter to the last. And what is especially to be 
remarked, the spiritual sense of this book, the last of the 
New Testament, is shown to be founded on the same princi- 
ples, and discovered by the same rules of interpretation, as 
the spiritual sense of the books of Genesis and Exodus, the 
first of the Old Testament, written, as they were, by other 
hands, and more than fifteen hundred years before; a strong 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 177 

proof, certainly, that however varied the human instruments 
there was One Divine Author of the whole. Thus, with 
any particular word, for instance, occurring in the book 
of Genesis, and declared to have a certain spiritual significa- 
tion, — when that word occurs in the book of Revelation, it 
is shown to have the same signification; and this holds good 
in all cases. And, moreover, while all these various signfi- 
cations, taken together, make in the book of Genesis a 
complete spiritual sense, so in the book of Revelation they 
make their own complete spiritual sense. Now it will be 
readily seen, that such a coincidence would be altogether 
unaccountable, nay, impossible, unless there really existed 
such a spiritual sense in the "Word of God: and it is, indeed, 
this uniform spiritual sense, full of high and heavenly truth, 
that raises the holy volume infinitely above all other works 
of history or morals; and the existence of such a sense is 
the strongest proof of the Divine character of those writings 
which we call the Sacred Scriptures. And truly, had 
Swedenborg done only this, he would have deserved the 
gratitude of all who seriously revere the Word of God, for 
thus bringing a new and most powerful argument from 
internal evidence, in favor of the inspiration and divinity 
of the sacred volume." 

Well, then, might Swedenborg disclaim the authorship 
of the ideas in the Apocalypse Revealed, and ask: "What 
man can draw such things from himself?" Those who tell 
us that Swedenborg was self-deceived, must either know very 
little of what they speak about, or must be quite as ignorant 
of the capacity of the human mind and its powers of inven- 
tion. For ourselves, we could as readily believe that Swe- 
denborg created the world, as we could believe that the 
spiritual sense of the Apocalypse, and of the whole Word, 
was a fiction of his brain. Were the spiritual sense of the 
Word such a fiction, then it must be said that there lived a 



178 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

man in the last century, with an intellect and creative 
faculty, compared with which those of all the philosophers 
and poets of past and present time combined, were as 
nothing. "We leave revilers of Swedenborg to make their 
choice; either to admit the existence of the spiritual sense 
of the Word; or, denying its existence, and pronouncing 
Swedenborg's discovery either a delusion or an imposture, 
to admit that Swedenborg was a man wholy unique — a 
genius infinitely surpassing any which the world has ever 
known, and endowed with a power of invention which the 
mind of a nation incarnate in one man could never hope to 
rival. 

But it will never come to such a pass. Any one who will 
take the trouble candidly to examine the subject, will become 
convinced of the spiritual sense of the Word, and of the 
truth of Swedenborg's revelations regarding it. The denial 
and mockery of them can only coexist with an ignorance, 
more or less profound, of their nature; or, worse still, from 
a hatred of the truth, grounded in the life and love of evil. 
The spiritual sense of the Word is no invention. It is a 
discovery, — accomplished by Divine means, however, — just 
as the finding of Australia was a discovery; and we shall 
believe in its existence if we become practically acquainted 
with it through reverent thought and study; even as we 
should know Australia best, did we go there. 

It may be said : " Well, suppose the spiritual sense of the 
Apocalypse does describe the fall of the Christian Church, 
and the inauguration of the New Church ; and typifies the 
doctrine of justification by faith alone by the Dragon ; and 
the Romanists and their lust of dominion and atrocious 
deeds by Babylon and the great Harlot sitting upon many 
waters; what then? It is true such descriptions must ever 
have a certain interest, but not sufficient to render them 
subjects of universal study in all ages, and worthily forming 



EMANUEL SWEDENBOHG. 179 

a part of that Divine Book which is read by angels in 
heaven, as well as by men on earth." The objection is a 
sound one so far as it goes, but it is made in ignorance of a 
great but very simple truth, namely, that all that is true 
of a church is true of an individual. The trust in mere 
truth in the intellect, and the lust of power and glory, — the 
former signified by the Dragon, and the latter by Babylon, — 
are evils which exist in all minds to a greater or less degree; 
and the Divine description of their nature and awful con- 
sequences may be thought of apart from any idea of Geneva 
or Rome. The Apocalypse being a divine work, has infinite 
applications, and will be read to eternity in spheres where 
the names of Romanist and Protestant are unknown ; and in 
societies of glorified spirits, compared with whose number 
and influence this world is insignificant. 



180 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



CHAPTER XXI. 
Travels — Habits — Anecdotes. 

In April, 1766, Swedenborg again visited England in 
order to observe the effect of his writings upon the English 
people. Of this visit we have no account, except in reference 
to its conclusion, in September of the same year, when he 
returned to Stockholm. Mr. Springer, the Swedish Consul 
in London, an old friend of Swedenborg's, has left the fol- 
lowing interesting record of some incidents connected with 
his return. 

"Swedenborg was about to depart for Sweden, and desired 
me to procure him a good captain, which I did. I made 
the agreement with a person named Dixon. Swedenborg's 
effects were carried on board the vessel, and as his apart- 
ments were at some distance from the port, we took, for that 
night, a chamber at an inn near it, because the captain of 
the vessel was to come and fetch him in the morning. Swe- 
denborg went to bed; and I went to sit in another room, 
with the master of the house, with whom I was conversing. 
We both heard a remarkable noise, and could not apprehend 
what it could be, and therefore drew near to a door, where 
there was a little window that looked into the chamber 
where Swedenborg lay. We saw him with his arms raised 
toward heaven, and his body appeared to tremble. He 
spoke much for the space of half an hour, but we could un- 
derstand nothing of what he said, except that when he let 
his hands fall down, we heard him say with a loud voice, 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 181 

'My God!' But we could not hear what he said more. He 
remained afterwards very quietly in his bed. I entered into 
his chamber with the master of the house, and asked him if 
he was ill. 'No/ said he; 'but I have had a long discourse 
with some of the heavenly friends, and am at this time in a 
great perspiration/ And as his effects were embarked on 
board the vessel, he asked the master of the house to let 
him have a shirt; he then went again to bed, and slept till 
morning. 

"When the captain of the vessel came to fetch Sweden- 
borg, I took my leave of him, and wished him a happy 
voyage. I then asked the captain if he was provided with 
good and necessary provisions. He answered me, that he 
had as much as was needful for the voyage. On this, Swe- 
denborg said: 'My friend, we shall not need a great quantity: 
for this day week we shall, by the aid of God, enter the port 
of Stockholm at two o'clock.' It happened exactly as he 
foretold, as Dixon informed me; saying, that a violent gale 
accelerated the voyage, that the wind was favorable at every 
turn of the vessel, and that he never in all his life had so 
prosperous a voyage." 

Arriving at Stockholm on the 8th of September, Sweden- 
borg resided in the Sudermalm, the southern suburb of the 
city. Robsahm tells us : " His house was built and arranged 
after his own taste; the apartments were rather small, but 
suitable for himself. Although he was a man of most pro- 
found learning, no other books were seen in his study than 
the Hebrew and Greek Bible, together with his own indexes 
to his works, whereby he saved himself the trouble, when re- 
ferring to different passages, of going through all he had 
before written. 

"Adjoining the house was a rather large garden, in the 
midst of which he had a summer-house, or pavilion. There 
were four doors to the apartment, which formed a square, 
16 



182 LIEE AND WRITINGS OF 

and was occasionally turned, in an instant, into an octagon, 
by means of four other doors that belonged to it. One of 
these doors shut with a secret lock, which being opened, 
there appeared a glass door placed opposite a fine green hedge, 
where a bird was seen in a cage. This new spectacle pro- 
duced an agreeable surprise of a second garden to the person 
who opened the door, which Swedenborg used to say was 
more agreeable than the first. At the entrance of the garden 
there was a parterre, well covered with flowers, which he was 
very fond of. He derived no other advantage from the 
garden, for he gave the whole produce of it to the gardener 
who waited on him ; so also that of a very excellent green- 
house, in which he took much pleasure. 

"The gardener and his wife were the only servants he 
had; of the latter he never desired other service than that 
of making his bed, and of bringing water into his apartment. 
He generally made his own coffee on the fire in his study, 
and took much of it, well sweetened. When at home, his 
dinner consisted of a small loaf put into boiled milk, and at 
that time he neither drank wine nor any spirituous liquor, 
nor did he take any supper. Though he was very sparing 
in his eating and drinking, yet he would sometimes, when in 
company, take a glass of wine, but was always in one equal 
temper of mind, and cheerful. 

"He had a fire constantly kept up in his study, from 
autumn, throughout the winter, until spring; but his bed- 
room, contrary to the usual custom in Sweden, was always 
cold; and according as the cold was more or less severe, he 
made use of three, or four, blankets. When he awoke, he 
went into his study, where there were always live coals, on 
which he laid wood, with birch-bark, having a number of 
small bundles ready for use, and to make a quick fire before 
he sat down to write. 

"In his parlor was a table of black marble, on which, one 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 183 

would have supposed, at first sight, that a hand of cards had 
been carelessly thrown, the imitation being so perfect. He 
made a present of this table to the Eoyal College of Mines, 
who preserve it with great care. This room was neat and 
genteel, but furnished in a plain style. 

"His wardrobe was simple, yet suitable to the season. He 
wore in winter a fur gown; and when at home, in summer, 
a morning robe. 

" He spoke very distinctly. When he began to talk in 
company, every one was silent, as well from the pleasure 
they had in hearing his discourse, as from a sense of his well 
known great erudition, which he did not show but on occa- 
sions in which he found himself compelled to prove his as- 
sertions, or the little weight of the arguments of some with 
whom he conversed. Besides the learned languages, in 
which he was well versed, he understood the French, En- 
glish, Dutch, German, and Italian." 

We are thankful indeed for these details, trifling though 
they are. They evince the quiet practical character of Swe- 
denborg, and the strong common sense which guarded him 
from all extravagance and eccentricity. 

From the gardener's wife, Kobsahm received the following 
statement : — " Entering one day, after dinner, into Sweden- 
borg's chamber, I saw his eyes like unto a most bright flame. 
I drew back, saying, ' In the name of goodness, Sir, what 
has happened extraordinary to you ? for you have a very 
peculiar appearance/ 'What kind of look have I?' an- 
swered he. I then told him what struck me. 'Well, well/ 
replied he, which was his favorite expression, 'don't be fright- 
ened, the Lord has so disposed my eyes, that by them spirits 
may see what is in our world.' " In a short time this appear- 
ance passed away, as he said it would. " I know," said she 
to Kobsahm, " when he has conversed with heavenly spirits, 
for there is a pleasure and calm satisfaction in his counte- 



184 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

nance, which charm those who see it ; but after he has con- 
versed with evil spirits, he has a sorrowful look." 

Concerning his temptations, they said that their master, 
in the night, often spoke aloud, when evil spirits were with 
him, which they could easily hear, their room being adjoin- 
ing. When asked what caused his disturbance in the night, 
he answered that it had been permitted the evil spirits to 
blaspheme, and that he had spoken against them zealously. 
It happened often that, weeping bitterly, he cried with a 
loud voice, and prayed to the Lord that he might not be 
forsaken in his temptation, when they assailed him. His 
w T ords were, 'Lord help me! Lord, my God, do not forsake 
me!' Those who saw him in these states, supposed he was 
sick; but when delivered from them, he returned thanks to 
God, and said to those who were troubled for him, 'God be 
eternally praised! Comfort yourselves, my friends, all has 
passed away; and be assured that nothing happens to me 
but what the Lord permits, who never lays a burden on us 
more weighty than we are able to bear.' " 

Once it was remarkable that after such a state he went to 
bed, and did not rise for several days and nights. This gave 
his domestics much uneasiness, and they consulted together, 
and supposed he was dead. They intended to break open 
the door, or to call their neighbors. At last the gardener 
went to the window, and discovered, to his great joy, that 
his master was alive, and turning in his bed. The next 
day he rang the bell. The woman went in, and related her 
own and her husband's uneasiness for him. He told her 
with a cheerful countenance, that he had been very well, and 
had wanted nothing. 

The following anecdote, narrated to Eobsahm by the gar- 
dener's wife, places Swedenborg's moral courage in a strong 
light, and shows the use of judicious plain speaking. Bishop 
Halenius, the successor of Swedenborg's father, paying Swe- 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 185 

denborg a visit one day, the conversation turned on the 
nature of common sermons. Swedenborg said to the bishop, 
" You insert things that are false in yours ;" on this, the 
bishop told the gardener, who was present, to retire, but 
Swedenborg commanded him to stay. The conversation 
went on, and both turned over the Hebrew and Greek Bi- 
bles, to show the texts that were agreeable to their assertions. 
At length the interview ended, by some observations in- 
tended as reproaches to the bishop on his avarice and various 
unjust actions ; "You have already prepared yourself a place 
in hell," said Swedenborg : " but," added he, " I predict that 
some months hence you will be attacked with a grievous illness, 
during which time the Lord will seek to convert you. If 
you then open your heart to his holy inspirations, your con- 
version will take place. When this happens, write to me 
for my theological works, and I will send them to you." 
Some months after, an officer from the province and bishop- 
ric of Skara visited Swedenborg. On being asked how 
bishop Halenius was, he replied: "He has been very ill, but 
at present he is quite recovered, and has become altogether 
another person, being now a practicer of what is good, full 
of probity, and returns sometimes three or four-fold of the 
property which he had before unjustly taken into his posses- 
sion." From that time to the hour of his death, he was one 
of the greatest supporters of the doctrine of the New Church 
of the Lord, and declared openly, that the theological writ- 
ings of Swedenborg were the most precious treasures given 
for the welfare of mankind. What- a blessed result was 
this of the few severe but really kind words of Swedenborg, 
spoken in season! 

In Stockholm, Swedenborg was very accessible, and visi- 
tors sought his advice for all purposes. Widows went to 
him to inquire about the state of their husbands in the other 
world ; and others fancying him a wizard, beset him with 
16 * 



186 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

questions about lost and stolen property. Notwithstanding 
the number and frequency of these visits, from people of 
all ranks, he would never receive any particular ones, and 
more especially those of females, without one of his domes- 
tics being present. He also required his visitors to speak 
in the language of the country, saying, " I will have wit- 
nesses of my discourse and conduct, that all pretensions to 
malicious assertions and scandal may be taken away." He 
had probably suffered from the tongues of busybodies : it 
would have been strange if he had not ; and it was prudent 
for him to take this effectual plan to cut away the foundation 
of all idle and malicious gossip. 

Nicholas Collin, a young clergyman, at this time visited 
Swedenborg, and thus pleasantly narrates his interview. 
"In 1765, I went to reside at Stockholm, where I continued 
for nearly three years. During that time, Swedenborg was 
a great object of public attention in the metropolis, and his 
extraordinary character was a frequent topic of discussion. 
He resided at his house in the southern suburbs, which was 
in a pleasant situation, neat and convenient, with a spacious 
garden and other appendages. There he received company. 
Not seldom he also appeared in company, and mixed in pri- 
vate society; sufficient opportunities were therefore given to 
observe him. I collected much information from several 
respectable persons who had conversed with him ; which was 
the more easy, as I lived the whole time as a private tutor 
in the family of Dr. Celsius, a gentleman of distinguished 
talents, who afterwards became bishop of Scania. He, and 
many of the eminent persons that frequented his house, 
knew Swedenborg well. 

"In the summer of 1766, I waited on him at his house. 
Introducing myself with an apology for the freedom I took, 
I assured him that it was not in the least from youthful pre- 
sumption. I was then twenty, but had a strong desire to 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 187 

converse with a character so celebrated. He received me very 
kindly. It being early in the afternoon, delicate coffee, 
without eatables, was served, agreeable to the Swedish cus- 
tom ; he was also, like pensive men in general, fond of this 
beverage. We conversed for nearly three hours ; principally 
on the nature of human souls, and their states in the invisible 
world; discussing the principal theories of psychology by 
various authors. He asserted positively, as he often 
does in his works, that he had intercourse with spirits of de- 
ceased persons. I presumed, therefore, to request of him, 
as a great favor, to procure me an interview with my brother, 
who had departed this life a few months before, a young 
clergyman, and esteemed for his devotion, erudition, and 
virtue. He answered, that God, having for good and wise 
purposes separated the world of spirits from ours, a commu- 
nication is never granted without cogent reasons ; and asked 
what my motives were. I confessed that I had none besides 
gratifying brotherly affection, and an ardent wish to explore 
scenes so sublime and interesting to a serious mind. He re- 
plied, that my motives were good, but not sufficient; but 
that if any important spiritual or temporal concern of mine 
had been the case, he would then have solicited permission 
from those angels who regulate these matters. He showed 
me his garden. It had an agreeable building, a wing of 
which was a kind of temple, to which he often retired for 
contemplation; its dim religious light rendering it suitable 
for such a purpose. 

"We parted with mutual satisfaction; and he presented by 
me, to the said Dr. Celsius, an elegant copy of his Apocalyp- 
sis Revelata, then lately printed in Amsterdam." 

Swedenborg was of a very mild temper, upright, just, and 
incapable of perverting the truth. Kobsahm, one day, asked 
him if a certain preacher, lately deceased, and greatly es- 
teemed in Stockholm for his flowery sermons, had a place in 



188 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

heaven. "No," said Swedenborg, "he went directly into the 
abyss; for he left his devotion in the pulpit: he was not pious, 
but a hypocrite ; proud and greatly vain of the gifts he had 
received from nature, and the goods of fortune he was con- 
tinually seeking to acquire. Truly," continued he, "false 
appearances will stand us in no stead hereafter; they are all 
separated from man at his decease ; the mask then falls from 
him ; and it is then made manifest to all, whether he is in- 
wardly good or evil." 

The exact month of Swedenborg's next foreign travel is 
uncertain; but just before he undertook it, Eobsahm met 
him in his carriage, and asked him how he could venture to 
take a voyage to London, at the age of eighty, and expressed 
a fear lest he should not see him again. "Be not uneasy, 
my friend," said he, "if you live, we shall see one another 
again, for I have yet another voyage of this kind to make." 

At Elsinore, on these voyages, he frequently visited M. 
Rahling, the Swedish Consul, and during this transit, he 
made the acquaintance of General Tuxen, at the Consul's 
table. The General asked him how a man might be certain 
whether he was on the road to salvation or not. Swedenborg 
answered, "That is very easy. A man need only examine 
himself and his thoughts by the Ten Commandments; as, 
for instance, whether he loves and fears God; whether he is 
happy in seeing the welfare of others, and does not envy 
them ; whether on having received a great injury from others, 
which may have excited him to anger and to meditate re- 
venge, he afterwards changes his sentiments, because God 
has said that vengeance is His, and so on; then he may rest 
assured that he is on the road to heaven : but when he dis- 
covers himself actuated by contrary sentiments, he may 
know that he is on the road to hell." 

This led Tuxen to think of himself, as well as others; and 
he asked Swedenborg whether he had seen King Frederick V. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 189 

of Denmark, deceased in 1766, adding that though some 
human frailty attached to him, yet he had certain hopes that 
he was happy. Swedenborg said, "Yes, I have seen him, 
and he is well off; and not only he, but all the kings of the 
house of Oldenburg, who are associated together. This is 
not the happy case with our Swedish kings." Swedenborg 
then told him that he had seen no one so splendidly minis- 
tered to in the world of spirits as the Empress Elizabeth of 
Russia, who died in 1762. As Tuxen expressed astonish- 
ment at this, Swedenborg continued: "I can also tell you 
the reason, which few would surmise. With all her faults, 
she had a good heart, and a certain consideration in her 
negligence. This induced her to put off signing many 
papers that were from time to time presented to her, and 
which at last so accumulated that she could not examine 
them, but was obliged to sign as many as possible on the 
representation of her ministers ; after which she would retire 
to her closet, fall on her knees, and beg God's forgive- 
ness, if she, against her will, had signed anything that was 
wrong." 

At the conclusion of this interesting interview, Sweden- 
borg went on board his vessel, leaving a firm friend and fu- 
ture disciple in General Tuxen. Some years after, Tuxen 
wrote : " I thank our Lord, the God of heaven, that I have 
been acquainted with this great man and his writings. I 
esteem this as the greatest blessing I ever experienced in 
this life, and hope I shall profit by it in working out my 
salvation." 

Swedenborg's stay in London at this time must have been 
brief; for on the 28th of November, 1768, we meet him 
again in Amsterdam, whither he had gone to print another 
important work, " Conjugial Love, and its chaste Delights ; 
also Adulterous Love and its insane Pleasures." This 
book he published with his name, as written " by Emanuel 



190 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

Swedenborg, a Swede." This is the first of his theological 
works to which he affixed his name. His reason for giving 
it in this instance, is said to have been, that no other person 
might be censured for writing on this delicate subject. We 
wil now examine the contents of this wondrous book. 



EMANUEL SWEDENB011G. 191 



CHAPTER XXII. 
Conjugial Ziove* 

A wise man might well suspect the soundness of any 
system of morals which did not take into careful considera- 
tion the conjugial relation. Marriage — the most important 
event in life, the relation which occupies the whole thought 
of one sex, and the most serious regards of the other, the 
institution around which all that is highest and holiest in 
life groups itself, family, home, all that human hearts hold 
dear — must ever hold a prominent place in a true code of 
moral and spiritual laws. How then could the subject be 
omitted from the heavenly writings of the New Jerusalem ? 
or how could its apostle forget or pass it by. 

Swedenborg, in his treatise on Conjugial Love, first speaks 
of marriages in heaven. He shows that a man lives a man 
after death, and that a woman lives a woman ; and since it 
was ordained from creation that the woman should be for 
the man, and the man for the woman, and thus that each 
should be the other's, — and since that love is innate in both, 
it follows that there are marriages in heaven as well as on 
earth. 

Marriage in the heavens is the conjunction of two into one 
mmd. The mind of man consists of two parts, the under- 
standing and the will. When these two parts act in unity, 
they are called one mind. The understanding is predomi- 
nant in man, and the will in woman ; but in the marriage 
of minds there is no predominance, for the will of the wife 



192 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

becomes also the will of the husband, and the understand- 
ing of the husband is also that of the wife ; because each 
loves to will and to think as the other wills and thinks, and 
thus they will and think mutually and reciprocally. Hence 
their conjunction ; so that in heaven, two married partners 
are not called two, but one angel. When this conjunction 
of minds descends into the inferior principles which are of 
the body, it is perceived and felt as love, and that love is 
conjugial love. 

To this doctrine of marriage in heaven will arise an ob- 
jection from the Lord's words to the Sadducees, when they 
asked Him whose wife, in the resurrection, a woman should 
be, who had been married in succession to seven brethren. 
The Lord replied : " The children of this world marry, and 
are given in marriage ; but they which shall be accounted 
worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the 
dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage." — Luke xx. 
34, 35. To understand this reply, we must bear in mind the 
nature of the question. A woman had been married, quite 
in accordance with worldly usage, to seven husbands. Of 
course, nothing of this kind takes place in heaven ; for, as 
the Lord says, there " neither can they die any more." Af- 
ter that fashion indeed there is no marrying or giving in 
marriage in heaven. In truth, marriages, such as they are 
in heaven, could never have been comprehended by the gross 
and carnal-minded Jews ; and had the Lord entered into 
detail, He would have been as grossly misapprehended by 
them as when He said, " Destroy- this temple, and in three 
days I will raise it up." And they said: "Forty and six 
years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up 
in three days ?" not knowing that he " spake of the temple 
of his body." John ii. 19 — 21. Now Swedenborg very 
plainly shows that Christians think as naturally of marriage 
as the Jews did of the temple, if they suppose that the true 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. • 193 

marriage of minds does not take place in heaven, or that it 
was any but the carnal and sensual connections of earth 
that the Lord declared had no place in eternity. In the 
spiritual sense of the Lord's words, by the marriage that 
does not take place in heaven, is meant the spiritual mar- 
riage, or union of goodness and truth in the mind ; in other 
words, regeneration : this must be accomplished in this life, 
or not at all. When the spiritual sense of the Word is un- 
derstood, this interpretation becomes manifest as the only 
true and rational mode of understanding the text ; and all 
the rest of Scripture goes to confirm it. 

Moreover it is true that there is no marriage in heaven in 
the exact sense of the word. Partners are born into this 
world, and by life in it are disciplined for each other. 
Separate, they are but parts of one whole; and in each 
there is a continual longing for unition. Seen by the eye 
of Omniscience, they are ever married; they are one, how- 
ever divided they may be by space or circumstances. Their 
meeting in heaven and recognition of each other is only the 
external completion of what had before in essentials been 
effected. And in this sense it may be said that there are no 
marriages in heaven; for all are married, in reality, before 
they reach heaven. 

Marriages on earth, Swedenborg teaches, are at this day 
entered upon so generally from merely worldly and sensual 
motives, and with so little regard for similarity of mind, 
that, save in few cases, they are not maintained and perpet- 
uated in the other life. Married partners commonly meet 
after death; but as their internal differences of mind are 
manifested, they separate; for no married partners can be 
received into heaven, except such as have been interiorly 
united, or are capable of being so united into one; which is 
understood by the Lord's words: "They are no longer two, 
but one flesh." Such as are thus separated — possibly both 
17 I 



.194 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

very good people — meet, in due time, congenial partners, 
whose souls incline to union with their own, so that they no 
longer wish to be two lives, but one. 

The meeting of young partners in heaven is thus charm- 
ingly described: — "The divine providence of the Lord 
extends to everything, even to the minutest particulars 
concerning marriages, because all the delights of heaven 
spring from the delights of conjugial love, as sweet waters 
from the fountain head. On this account it is provided that 
conjugial pairs be born, and these pairs are continually 
educated to their several marriages under the Lord's aus- 
pices, neither the boy nor the girl knowing anything of the 
matter; and after a stated time, when both of them become 
marriageable, they meet in some place as by chance, and see 
each other, and in this case they instantly know, as by a 
kind of instinct, that they are pairs ; and by a kind of inward 
dictate, think within themselves — the youth that she is mine, 
and the virgin that he is mine; and when this thought has 
existed some time in the mind of each, they accost each 
other from a deliberate purpose, and betroth themselves. 
It is said as by chance, by instinct, and by dictate, and the 
meaning is by Divine Providence: since, while the Divine 
Providence is unknown, it has such an appearance; for the 
Lord opens internal similitudes, that they may see each 
other." 

We are now led by Swedenborg, and introduced to a 
knowledge of the nature of conjugial love, and shown in what 
consists its essential blessedness. He shows that this love 
originates in the marriage of goodness and truth. Every 
one who has experienced anything of regeneration, knows 
that there is no bliss so intense, no joy so extatic, as that 
arising from well-doing, and submission to the will of the 
Lord. When right is done because it is right, when truth 
in the understanding is carried into action, then good is 



EMANUEL SWEDENBOKG. 195 

inseminated in the will by the Lord, and conjoining itself to 
truth in the understanding, the soul overflows with the 
sweetest peace, and the most interior delight. The conjunc- 
tion of goodness and truth is the heavenly marriage, to 
which the Lord compares the kingdom of heaven; and He 
says that it is not here, nor there, but within us. Under the 
symbols of marriage and love, the regeneration of the soul 
is continually described in the Word; and the meeting 
of Jacob and Rachel at the well, when "Jacob kissed 
Rachel," and for very joy, "lifted up his voice and wept," 
beautifully typifies the meeting of goodness and truth, and 
the gladness resulting from their approaching union. 

It was said that in man the understanding predominates, 
and in woman the will. In the mind of each, then, it is 
evident, there never can be a perfect marriage, seeing that 
individual minds are in themselves imperfect, the balance 
of the will and intellect being in no case equal. The mental 
perfection or wholeness of man then necessitates marriage. 
Truth loves good, and good loves truth; and so the will and 
the understanding ever long for conjunction. It is plain, 
then, that in man there must always be an unsatisfied desire, 
if he remain by himself; and so, also, to even a greater 
degree, with the woman. This insatiable desire for conjunc- 
tion of soul, can not well appear in its strength in this life 
for many reasons ; nor can it receive here its full satisfaction, 
as it will in eternity. 

True conjugial love can exist only between two; and in 
polygamists and adulterers it is utterly destroyed. Again, 
it can only exist with the regenerate, with those who love 
the Lord and their neighbor, and delight in keeping the 
divine commandments. In proportion as married partners 
so live, they become more and more closely and interiorly 
conjoined; and their minds flowing into one, their peace, 
joy, and bliss are ineffably increased. With the wicked 



196 LIFE AND WRITINGS OP 

there is no conjugial love. Their life, being internally evil, 
conceals the deepest hatred; and the apparent affection 
which they may display in the world, arises either from 
sensual love,, or worldly expediency. Be it well noted by 
all, that marriage can yield real happiness only to the 
religious — to those who love God and honor His laws. 

It is impossible for us to give, even by way of catalogue, 
a view of the details into which the treatise on Conjugial 
Love enters. It is so richly studded with great principles, 
that no condensation is possible. It is thus with all of 
Swedenborg's books; so that an exhaustive review is impos- 
sible. He never treats his readers to long moralizings that 
can be condensed into one paragraph; but all his writings 
are crowded with thought, so that one is prompted not to 
condensation, but to expansion. This excuse, which we have 
had to present on previous occasions, must form our apology 
for the following extracts, selected as illustrations of some 
of the leading truths in this treatise. 

The Delights of Conjugial Love. — "As conjugial love is the 
foundation love of all good loves, and as it is inscribed on all 
the parts and principles of man, even to the most particular, 
it follows that its delights exceed the delights of all other 
loves, and also that it gives delight to the other loves, ac- 
cording to its presence and conjunction with them; for it 
expands the inmost principles of the mind, and at the same 
time the inmost principles of the body, as the most delight- 
ful current of its fountain flows through and opens them. 
The reason why all delights, from first to last, are collated 
into this love, is on account of the superior excellence of its 
use, which is the propagation of the human race, and thence 
of the angelic heaven ; and as this use was the chief end of 
creation, it follows that all the beatitudes, satisfactions, de- 
lights, pleasantnesses, and pleasures, which the Lord the 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 197 

Creator could possibly confer upon man, are collated into 
this love."— n. 68. 

Love truly Conjugial is essential Chastity. — "The reasons 
are, 1. Because it is from the Lord, and corresponds to the 
marriage of the Lord and the church. 2. Because it 
descends from the marriage of good and truth. 3. Because 
it is spiritual, in proportion as the church exists with man. 
4. Because it is the foundation love, and head of all celestial 
and spiritual loves. 5. Because it is the orderly seminary 
of the human race, and thereby of the angelic heaven. 
6. Because on this account it also exists with the angels 
of heaven, and gives birth with them to spiritual offspring, 
which are love and wisdom. 7. And because its uses are 
thus more excellent than the other uses of creation. From 
these considerations, it follows that love truly conjugial, 
viewed from its origin and its essence, is pure and holy, so 
that it may be called purity and holiness, consequently, 
essential chastity." — n. 143. 

Conjugial Love in Ancient Times. — "I have been informed 
by the angels, that those who lived in the most ancient 
times, live at this day in the heavens, in separate houses, 
families, and nations, as they lived on earth, and that scarce 
any one of a house is wanting; and that the reason is, because 
they were principled in love truly conjugial; and that hence 
their children inherited inclinations to the conjugial princi- 
ples of good and truth, and were easily initiated into it 
more and more interiorly by education received from their 
parents, and afterwards as from themselves, when they 
became capable of judging for themselves, were introduced 
into it by the Lord." — n. 205. 

Marriage elevates Humanity to its Highest Form. — "The 
most perfect and noble human form results from the con- 
junction of two forms, by marriage, so as to become one 
form ; thus from two fleshes becoming one flesh according to 
17* 



198 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

creation. In such a case the man's mind is elevated into 
superior light, and the wife's into superior heat." — n. 201. 

The Children of Good Parents. — "Children born of par- 
ents who are principled in love truly conjugial, derive from 
their parents the conjugial principle of good and truth, by 
virtue whereof they have an inclination and faculty, if sons, 
to perceive the things appertaining to wisdom, and if daugh- 
ters, to love those things which wisdom teaches. Hence a 
superior suitableness and facility to grow wise, is inherited 
by those who are born from such a marriage, and also to 
imbibe the things relating to the church and heaven." — n. 
202-4. 

The capacity of women to perform the duties of men, and 
men those of women, is thus spoken of. 

"The wife can not enter into the duties proper to the 
man, nor on the other hand the man into the duties proper 
to the wife, because they differ like wisdom and the love 
thereof, or like understanding and the will thereof. In the 
duties proper to the man, the primary agent is the under- 
standing, thought, and wisdom ; whereas in the duties proper 
to the wife, the primary agent is will, affection, and love; 
and the wife from the latter principles performs her duties, 
and the man from the former performs his ; wherefore their 
duties, from the nature of them, are diverse, but still con- 
junctive in a successive series. It is believed by many that 
women can perform the duties of men, if they were initiated 
therein like boys, at an early age. They may indeed be 
initiated into the exercise of such duties, but not into the 
judgment, on which the rectitude interiorly depends; where- 
fore those women who have been initiated into the duties 
of men, are bound, in matters of judgment, to consult men, 
and then, if they are left to their own disposal, they select 
from the counsels of men what favors their own particular 
love. It is also supposed by some, that women are equally 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 199 

capable with- men of elevating the intellectual vision, and 
into the same sphere of life, and of viewing things in the 
same altitude; and they have been led into this opinion by 
the writings of certain learned authoresses ; but these writ- 
ings, when examined in the spiritual world, in the presence 
of the authoresses, were found to be the productions, not 
of judgment and wisdom, but of ingenuity and wit; and 
what proceeds from these two latter principles, on account 
of the elegance and neatness of style in which it is written, 
has the appearance of sublimity and erudition; yet only in 
the eyes of those who call all ingenuity by the name 
of wisdom. In like manner, men can not enter into the 
duties of women, and perform them aright, because they are 
not in the affections of women, which are altogether distinct 
from the affections of men. As the affections and perceptions 
of the male and female sex are thus distinct by creation, 
and consequently by nature, therefore, among the statutes 
given to the sons of Israel, this was also ordained: 'A 
woman shall not put on the garment of a man, neither shall 
a man put on the garment of a woman ; because this is an 
abomination.' Deut. xxii. 5. The reason is, because all in 
the spiritual world are clothed according to their affections ; 
and the affections of the woman and the man can not be 
united, except as subsisting between two, and in no case as 
subsisting in one." — n. 175. 

The latter portion of the treatise on Conjugial Love is 
devoted to the melancholy subject of the disorders of the 
married life, to coldnesses and quarrels, separations and di- 
vorces ; and finally to adulteries, fornications, and all the 
abuses of the sexual relations. Of this it would be out of 
place to speak here, except to remark, that it follows, as a 
consequence of the fact that conjugial love makes man's 
highest bliss and purest heaven, that its violations and 
abuses must needs lead to the bitterest misery and deepest 



200 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

hell. This portion of the treatise has subjected Swedenborg 
to some gross calumny, which, if sincere, could only have 
arisen from a very superficial acquaintance with the princi- 
ples of its author. And yet it is hardly possible for a man 
to write on such subjects, without provoking the censure of 
the sickly virtuous and the hypocritically pure. Religious 
people too generally treat the dire sexual evils which infest 
and corrupt society with silence and aversion ; passing them 
by as the priest and the Levite did the wounded traveler. 
When the spirit of Jesus more fully actuates the church, 
and the love of the neighbor prompts to heal the world's 
evils by all efficient means, then, we have no doubt, Sweden- 
borg on Scortatory Love will be taken into council. 

We have used the term "conjugial," after Swedenborg, 
who generally uses the Latin adjective conjugialis, in pre- 
ference to conjugalis, perhaps because softer in sound. 

Interspersed between the various chapters of the treatise, 
are memorable relations of scenes which the author beheld 
in the spiritual world, and conversations which he had with 
spirits and angels on the subject of conjugial love. Many 
of these possess the most fascinating interest, and convey 
at the same time the most profound and beautiful truths. 
One interview which he had with two angels of the third 
heaven is so beautiful that we present it at length. 

" One morning I was looking upwards into heaven, and I 
saw over me three expanses, one above another. I wondered 
at first what all this meant ; and presently there was heard 
from heaven a voice as of a trumpet, saying, 'We have per- 
ceived, and now see, that thou art meditating concerning 
conjugial love. We are aware that no one on earth at 
present knows what true conjugial love is in its origin and 
essence. Yet it is of importance that it should be known. 
With us in the heavens, especially in the third heaven, our 
heavenly delights are principally derived from conjugial 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 201 

love ; wherefore in consequence of leave granted us, we will 
send down to thee a conjugial pair for thy inspection and 
observation :' and lo ! instantly there appeared a chariot de- 
scending from the third or highest heaven ; in which there 
was seen one angel ; but as it approached there were seen 
therein two. The chariot, at a distance, glittered before my 
eyes like a diamond, and to it were harnessed young horses 
white as snow ; and those who sat in the chariot held in their 
hands two turtle doves. * * * When they came nearer, 
lo ! it was a husband and his wife ; and they said, ' We are 
a conjugial pair ; we have lived blessed in heaven from the 
first age of the world, which is called by you the golden age, 
and during that time in the same perpetual flower of youth 
in which thou seest us at this day. I viewed each atten- 
tively, because I perceived that they represented conjugial 
love in its life and its adorning ; in its life in their faces, and 
in its adorning in their raiment. * * * The husband 
appeared of a middle age between manhood and youth; 
from his eyes darted forth sparkling light derived from the 
wisdom of love ; by virtue of which light his face was radi- 
ant from its inmost ground ; and in consequence of such ra- 
diance, the skin had a kind of refulgence in the outermost 
surface, whereby his whole face was one resplendent comeli- 
ness. He was dressed in an upper robe which reached down 
to his feet, and underneath it was a vesture of hyacinthine 
blue, girded about with a golden girdle, upon which were 
three precious stones, two sapphires on the sides, and a car- 
buncle in the middle ; his stockings were of bright shining 
linen, with threads of silver interwoven ; and his shoes were 
of velvet: such was the representative form of conjugial love 
with the husband. But with the wife it was this ; her face 
was seen by me, and it was not seen; it was seen as essential 
beauty, and it was not seen because this beauty was inex- 
pressible ; for in her face there was a splendor of flaming 
I* 



202 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

light, such as the angels of the third heaven enjoy, and this 
light made my sight dim ; so that I was lost in astonishment : 
she, observing this, addressed me, saying, 'What dost thou 
see V I replied, ' I see nothing but conjugial love and the 
form thereof; but I see, and I do not see/ Hereupon she 
turned herself obliquely from her husband ; and then I was 
enabled to view her attentively. Her eyes were bright and 
sparkling from the light of her own heaven, which light, as 
was said, is of a flaming quality, which it derives from the 
love of wisdom ; for in that heaven wives love their husbands 
from their wisdom and in their wisdom : and husbands love 
their wives from that love of wisdom and in it, as directed 
towards themselves ; and thus they are united. This was 
the origin of her beauty ; which was such that it would be 
impossible for any painter to imitate and exhibit it in its 
form, for he has no colors bright and vivid enough to express 
its lustre ; nor is it in the power of his art to depict such 
beauty. Her hair was adjusted in becoming order so as to 
correspond with her beauty ; and in it were inserted diadems 
of flowers : she had a necklace of carbuncles, from which 
hung a rosary of chrysolites; and she had bracelets of 
pearl : her upper robe was scarlet, and underneath it was a 
stomacher of purple, fastened in front with clasps of rubies. 
But what surprised me was, that the colors varied according 
to her aspect in regard to her husband, and also according 
thereto were sometimes more glittering, and sometimes less ; 
in mutual aspect more, and in oblique aspect less. When I 
had made these observations, they again discoursed with me ; 
and when the husband spoke, he spoke at the same time as 
from his wife ; and when the wife spoke, she spoke at the 
same time as from her husband ; such was the union of their 
minds from whence speech flows ; and on this occasion I also 
heard the sound or tone of voice of conjugial love; inwardly 
it was simultaneous, and it likewise proceeded from the de- 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 203 

lights of a state of innocence and peace. At length they 
said, ' We are recalled ,* we must depart :' and instantly they 
appeared again conveyed in a chariot as before. The way 
by which they were conveyed was a paved way through 
flowering shrubberies, from the beds of which rose olive and 
orange trees laden with fruit. When they approached their 
own heaven they were met by several virgins, who welcomed 
and introduced them." 



204 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Attacked by Dr. ETeeborn — Visits France — Jjetter to Hartley, and 
Hartley's Opinion of Swedenborg. 

In the spring of 1769, Swedenborg published at Amster- 
dam, A Brief Exposition of the Doctrine of the New Church, 
" in which work," he says, writing to Dr. Beyer, " are fully 
shown the errors of the existing doctrines of justification by 
faith alone, and of the imputation of the righteousness or 
merits of Jesus Christ." He sent the little book to all the 
clergy throughout Holland, and to the most eminent in 
Germany; but, on second thought, sent only one copy to 
Sweden, to Dr. Beyer, requesting him to keep it to himself, 
for true divinity in Sweden was in a wintry state. 

Swedenborg's long preservation from attack and contro- 
versy, at this time came to an end. On the 22d of March, 
1769, Dr. Ekebom, Dean of the Theological faculty of Got- 
tenburg, laid before the Consistory there a series of objections 
against Swedenborg's theological writings, laden with untruth, 
and full of personal invective. The Dean branded his doc- 
trine "as in the highest degree heretical, and, on points the 
most tender to every Christian, Socinian." He stated, fur- 
ther, that he "did not know Assessor Swedenborg's religious 
system, and should take no pains to come at the knowledge 
of it." As for Swedenborg's chief works, he u did not possess 
them, and had neither read nor seen them" Swedenborg's 
written reply, transmitted from Holland, was mild and 
effectual. He cited his writings themselves, and proved 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 205 

that, according to Scripture, the Apostolic Creed, and what- 
ever was not self-contradictory in the orthodoxy of the 
churches, his doctrine was anything but heretical. But the 
self-acknowledged ignorance and prejudice of the Dean were 
not to be removed by anything he might say. "Was not 
this," to quote Swedenborg's own words, "to be blind in the 
forehead, and to have eyes behind, and even those covered 
with a film? To see and decide upon writings in such a 
fashion, can any secular or ecclesiastical judge regard as 
otherwise than criminal?" 

About the end of May, or the beginning of June, Sweden- 
borg left Amsterdam for Paris, "with a design which," in 
writing to Dr. Beyer, he says, "must not be made public 
beforehand." We hardly understand the remark, except 
that he anticipated some difficulty with regard to the object 
of his journey, — the publication of another little work, 
entitled, " The Intercourse Between the Soul and the Body," 
in the French capital. 

On his arrival in Paris, Swedenborg submitted his tract 
to M. Chevreuil, Censor Poyal, who, having read it, informed 
him that a tacit permission to publish would be granted, on 
condition, as was customary in the case of doubtful books, 
that the title should say, "printed at London," or "at 
Amsterdam." This, Swedenborg's nice sense of truth and 
honor could not submit to, and he abandoned his intention 
of publishing it in Paris. His enemies in Gottenburg then 
circulated a report that he had been ordered to quit Paris, 
which he, in a letter to Dr. Beyer, pronounced a direct 
falsehood, and appealed for the truth of the case to the 
Swedish Ambassador to France. 

"Kumor also," writes Wilkinson, "has been busy with 
Swedenborg upon this journey. The French ' Universal 
Biography' connects him with an artist, — Elie, — who, it is 
alleged, supplied him with money, and furthered his pre- 

18 



206 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

sumed designs. Indeed, he has been accused of a league 
with the illumines, and with a certain politico-theological 
freemasonry, centuries old, but always invisible, which was 
to overturn society, and foster revolutions all over the world. 
We can only say that our researches have not elicited these 
particulars, and that every authentic document shows that 
Swedenborg stood always upon his own basis, accepted 
money from no one, and was just what he appeared — a 
theological missionary, and nothing more." 

The short visit to Paris was terminated by his departure 
for London, where, unfettered by censors, he published his 
little book — "The Intercourse Between the Soul and the 
Body." 

One of Swedenborg's warmest and most intelligent Eng- 
lish friends, was the Kev. Thomas Hartley, A. M., rector 
of Winwick, Northamptonshire, — himself an author, and 
assistant translator of the first English edition of "Heaven 
and Hell." At this time he wrote to Swedenborg, fearing 
that he might be in want of money, and offering to supply 
his needs; also requesting an account pf his past life and 
connections, as a means of refuting calumnies. In his reply, 
Swedenborg satisfied him on these points. He says to Mr. 
Hartley: "I take pleasure in the friendship you express for 
me in your letter, and return you sincere thanks for the same: 
but as to the praises you bestow upon me, I only receive 
them as tokens of your love of the truths contained in my 
writings, and so refer them to the Lord and Saviour, from 
whom is all truth, because he is the Truth. John xiv. 6. 

"I live on terms of familiarity and friendship with all the 
bishops of my country, who are ten in number; as also with 
the sixteen senators, and the rest of the nobility; for they 
know that I am in fellowship with angels. The King and 
Queen also, and the three princes, their sons, show me much 
favor. I was once invited by the King and Queen to dine 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 207 

at their table, — an honor which is, in general, granted only 
to the nobility of the highest rank ; and likewise, since, with 
the hereditary Prince. They all wished for my return 
home, — so far am I from being in any danger of persecution 
in my own country, as you seem to apprehend, and so kindly 
wish to provide against; and should anything of the kind 
befall me elsewhere, it can not hurt me. But I regard all 
that I have mentioned as matters of little moment; for, 
what far exceeds them, I have been called to a holy office 
by the Lord himself, who most graciously manifested him- 
self in person to me, his servant, in the year 1743; when he 
opened my sight to the view of the spiritual world, and 
granted me the privilege of conversing with spirits and 
angels, which I enjoy to this day. I am a Fellow, by 
invitation, of the Koyal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm : 
but I have never sought admission into any other Literary 
Society, as I belong to an angelic society, wherein things 
relating to heaven and the soul are the only subjects of dis- 
course and entertainment; whereas the things which occupy 
the attention of our Literary Societies are such as relate to 
the world and the body. As for the world's wealth, I have 
what is sufficient, and more I neither seek nor wish for. 
Your letter has drawn the mention of these things from me, 
with the view, as you suggest, that any ill-grounded preju- 
dices may be removed. Farewell! and from my heart I 
wish you all felicity in this world and in the next; which I 
make no doubt of your attaining, if you look and pray to 
our Lord. — E. Swedenborg." Dated, London, 1769. 

Mr. Hartley, in 1781, when far advanced in years, thus- 
gives his opinion of Swedenborg: — 

" The great Swedenborg was a man of uncommon humility. 
He was of a catholic spirit, and loved all good men of every 
church, making at the same time all candid allowance for 
the innocence of involuntary error. However self-denying 



208 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

in his own person, as to gratifications and indulgences, even 
within the bounds of moderation, yet nothing severe, nothing 
of the precisian, appeared in him ; but on the contrary, an 
inward serenity and complacency of mind were manifest in 
the sweetness of his looks and outward demeanor. It may 
reasonably be supposed that I have weighed the character 
of our illustrious author in the scale of my best judgment, 
from the personal knowledge I had of him, from the best 
information I could procure respecting him, and from a 
diligent perusal of his writings; and according thereto, I 
have found him to be the sound divine, the good man, the 
deep philosopher, the universal scholar, and the polite gen- 
tleman; and I further believe, thatt he had a high degree 
of illumination from the spirit of God, was commissioned by 
Him as an extraordinary messenger to the world, and had 
communication with angels and the spiritual world far 
beyond any since the time of the Apostles. As such, I offer 
his character to the world, solemnly declaring, that, to the 
best of my knowledge, I am not herein led by any partiality 
or private views whatever, being now dead to every worldly 
interest, and accounting myself as unworthy of any higher 
character than that of a penitent sinner." 

Two others of Swedenborg's English friends were Dr. 
Messiter and Dr. Hampe, who had been preceptor to George 
I. From a letter of Dr. Messiter's, we extract the following 
remarks on Swedenborg's character: — 

"I have had the honor of being frequently admitted to 
Swedenborg's company, when in London, and to converse 
. with him on various points of learning, and I will venture 
to affirm that there are no parts of mathematical, philo- 
sophical, or medical knowledge, nay, I believe I might justly 
say, of human literature, to which he is in the least a 
stranger; yet so totally insensible is he of his own merit, 
that I am confident he does not know that he has any; and, 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 209 ^ 

as he himself somewhere says of the angels, he always turns 
his head away on the slightest encomium." 

Swedenborg's stay in England at this time does not seem 
to have been longer than sufficed for the transaction of his 
business; for in September, 1769, he sailed for Stockholm, 
arriving there at the beginning of October. But we must 
now suspend the narrative of his life to offer a few remarks 
on his little works, — "A Brief Exposition of the Doctrine 
of the New Church," and "The Intercourse Between the 
Soul and the Body." 

18 * 



210 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

"Brief Exposition of the Doctrines of the New Church," and "TJie 
Intercourse between the Soul and the Hody." 

"The Brief Exposition of the Doctrines of the New 
Church" is an exposition effected by means of comparisons 
between the doctrines of the New Church and those of Cath- 
olics and Protestestants. The work is avowedly only a 
sketch, and the precursor of a larger book — "The True 
Christian Religion" — a work of some years, which will 
shortly demand our attention. The Catholic doctrinals are 
taken from the records of the Council of Trent ; and the 
Protestant from the Formula Concordise, composed by per- 
sons attached to the Augsburg Confession. The disagree- 
ments between the tenets of the Old and New Churches are 
considered under twenty-five Articles, the heads of which we 
will condense and present to the reader. 

The Churches which, by the Reformation, separated them- 
selves from the Roman Catholic Church, differ in various 
points of doctrine ; but they all agree in the Articles con- 
cerning a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, original sin 
from Adam, imputation of the merit of Christ, and justifica- 
tion by faith alone. The Roman Catholics, before the Re- 
formation, held and taught exactly the same things as the 
Reformed did after it, in respect to these points ; only with 
this difference, that they conjoined faith with charity or good 
works. 

The leading Reformers, Luther, Melancthon, and Calvin, 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 211 

retained all the tenets concerning a Trinity of Persons in 
the Godhead, original sin, imputation of the merits of 
Christ, and justification by faith, just as they were, and had 
been, among the Roman Catholics ; but they separated char- 
ity or good works from that faith, and declared at the same 
time that they were not of a saving efficacy, with a view to 
be totally severed from the Roman Catholics as to the very 
essentials of the Church, which are faith and charity. Never- 
theless the leading Reformers adjoined good works, and even 
conjoined them to their faith, but in man as a passive sub- 
ject ; whereas the Roman Catholics conjoin them in man as 
an active subject ; and notwithstanding this, there is actually 
a conformity between the one and the other as to faith, works, 
and merit. 

The whole system of theology in the Christian World, at 
this day, is founded on an idea of three Gods, arising from 
the doctrine of a Trinity of Persons, and when this doctrine 
is rejected, then all the tenets of the aforesaid theology fall 
to pieces. The truth of this must be apparent to every 
one. The Doctrine of a Trinity of Persons in the Divine 
Being, is the key-stone of Roman Catholic and Protestant 
theology. If this Doctrine be false, the whole structure tot- 
ters to its fall. 

When the faith in three Gods is rejected, then it is possi- 
ble to receive the true and saving faith, which is a faith in 
One God, united with good works. 

This faith is in God the Saviour Jesus Christ, and in its 
simple form is as follows : 1. That there is One God, in whom 
is a Divine Trinity, and that He is the Lord Jesus Christ. 
2. That saving faith is to believe in Him. 3. That evils 
ought to be shunned, because they are of the devil and from 
the devil. 4. That good works ought to be done, because 
they are of God and from God. 5. That they ought to be 



212 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

done by man as of himself, but with a belief that they are 
from the Lord, operating in him and by him. 

The faith of the present day has separated religion from 
the Church, since religion consists in the acknowledgment 
of One God, and in the worship of Him from faith grounded 
in charity ; but the faith of the present Church cannot be 
conjoined with charity, and produce any fruits which are 
good works, because imputation supplies everything, remits 
guilt, justifies, sanctifies, regenerates; imparts the life of 
heaven, and thus salvation ; and all this freely, without any 
works of man. In this case, what is charity, which ought 
to be united with faith, but something vain and superflu- 
ous, and a mere addition and supplement to imputation, 
and justification, to which, nevertheless, it adds no weight or 
value ? 

From this faith results a worship of the mouth and not 
of the lifei Now the Lord accepts the worship of the 
mouth in proportion as it proceeds from the worship of the 
life. 

The doctrine of the present Church is interwoven with 
many paradoxes, which are to be embraced by faith. There- 
fore its tenets gain admission into the memory only, and not 
at all into the understanding, which is superior to the 
memory, but merely into'" confirmations below it. Thus the 
tenets of the present Church cannot be learned or retained 
without great difficulty, nor can they be preached or taught 
without using great care and caution to conceal their naked- 
ness, because sound reason neither discerns nor perceives 
them. 

The doctrine of the faith of the present Church ascribes 
to God human passions and infirmities ; as, that He beheld 
man from anger, that He required to be reconciled, that He 
is reconciled through the love He bore towards the Son, and 
by His intercession ; and that He required to be appeased 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 213 

by the sight of His Son's sufferings, and thus to be brought 
back to mercy; and that He imputes the righteousness of 
His Son to an unrighteous man who supplicates it from 
faith alone ; and that thus from an enemy He makes him a 
friend, and from a child of wrath a child of grace: — all 
which dogmas are the opposite of the truth, and repulsive to 
every wise man. 

The faith of the present Church has produced monstrous 
births ; for instance, instantaneous salvation by an immedi- 
ate act of mercy ; predestination ; the notion that God has 
no respect unto the actions of men, but unto faith alone ; 
that there is no connection between charity and faith ; that 
man in conversion is like a stock ; with many more heresies 
of the same kind ; likewise concerning the sacraments of 
Baptism and the Holy Supper, as to the advantages reason- 
ably to be expected from them, when considered according 
to the doctrine of justification by faith alone ; as also with 
regard to the person of Christ : and that heresies, from the 
first ages to the present day, have sprung up from no other 
source than from the doctrine founded on the idea of three 
Divine Persons or Gods. 

The last state of the present church, when it is at an end, 
is meant by the consummation of the age, and the coming 
of the Lord at that period. Matt. xxiv. 3. 

The infestation from falses, and thence the consummation 
of every truth, or the desolation which at this day prevails 
in the Christian Churches, is meant by the great affliction, 
such as was not from the beginning of the world, nor ever 
shall be: Matt. xxiv. 21: and that there would be neither 
love nor faith, nor the knowledge of good and truth, in the 
last time of the Christian Church, is understood by these 
words in the same chapter of Matthew: "After the affliction 
of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall 



214 LIFE AND WHITINGS OF 

not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and 
the powers of the heavens shall be shaken," verse 29. 

They who are in the present justifying faith, are meant 
by the he-goats in Daniel and Matthew ; and they who have 
confirmed themselves therein, are meant in the Apocalypse 
by the dragon and his two beasts, and by the locusts; and 
this same faith, when confirmed, is there meant by the great 
city which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where the 
two witnesses were slain; as also by the pit of the abyss, 
whence the locusts issued. 

Unless a New Church be established by the Lord, no one 
can be saved. This is meant by these words: "Unless those 
days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved." 
Matt. xxiv. 22. The reason why no flesh could be saved, 
unless those days should be shortened, is, because the faith 
of the present Church is founded on the idea of three Gods, 
and with this idea no one can enter heaven. Not that all 
who are believers in the doctrine of a tripersonal God are 
lost; but that, unless a New Church were provided by the 
Lord, and spiritual truth revealed, man, wanting truth, 
could never become regenerate, could never enter heaven, 
and thus the end of his creation would be defeated. In 
spite, however, of false doctrine, men are saved by the laying 
hold, as it were, of the truths leading to a good life, which 
exist in the most corrupt faiths, and goodness always con- 
tains an internal acknowledgment and love of truth, although 
false doctrine may fill the memory. Yet it is true, never- 
theless, that false doctrine perverts, discourages, and in the 
end destroys all inclinations to live well. For this reason, 
then, the First Christian Church has come to its end, or has 
been consummated; and the Lord is raising up a New 
Church, endowed with truth capable of leading the world in 
the way of life, and to heaven. 

The opening and rejection of the tenets of the faith of the 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 215 

present Church, and the revelation and reception of the 
tenets of the faith of the New Church, is meant by these 
words in the Apocalypse: — "He that sat upon the throne 
said, Behold I make all things new ; and He said unto me, 
Write; for these words are true and faithful." xxi. 5. The 
New Church about to be established by the Lord, is the 
New Jerusalem, treated of in chapters xxi. and xxii., which 
is there called the Bride and the Wife of the Lamb. 

Such, briefly expressed, are the heads or leading ideas 
of the little work, "A Brief Exposition of the Doctrines 
of the New Church," a treatise which, as Wilkinson truly 
remarks, "is unequaled among Swedenborg's works for its 
destructive logic." 

" The Intercourse Between the Soul and the Body," is a 
small treatise designed to illustrate a subject which has 
puzzled many minds from time immemorial. Various have 
been the theories of philosophers on this subject; but few 
could satisfy the intelligent mind, or explain the varied 
phenomena of being. Swedenborg, in many of his previous 
works, had, with greater or less fullness, explained the nature 
of the soul's union with the body, and this treatise is, to some 
extent, but a repetition of what he had elsewhere written, — 
cleared, however, from extraneous matter. 

His view of the subject is simple and intelligible, as is all 
truth. The soul of man is a spiritual substance, of the same 
form as his body; transfusing all the body's tissues, and 
wearing the body as a garment, even as the body wears its 
clothes. The body lives from the soul. In itself, the body 
is dead and without sensation, as is evident when the man 
leaves it at death; it then returns to its inorganic elements. 
As the body is diseased or injured, the soul is more or less 
deprived of its power of action in the natural world, but the 
soul itself is uninjured. We see an illustration of this in 
the use of spectacles. Man's external organ of sight is 



216 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

defective, and he cannot see objects distinctly. Glasses are 
put before his eyes, and he sees as well as ever. Now it is 
certain the glasses in themselves do not restore his sight. 
They merely complete the defective organ, and the eye 
of the spiritual man uses them as a means to look forth into 
the material world. Observation and meditation will supply 
a multitude of confirmations of this doctrine of the spiritual 
body animating and transfusing the material. 

At death the spiritual body lays down the material, and 
makes its appearance in its higher sphere. Whether it is 
beautiful or deformed, depends upon the man's conduct on 
earth. If the soul has loved goodness and truth, it is a 
beautiful human form, and increases in grace and loveliness 
to eternity in heaven ; if, on the other hand, it has lived in 
evil and hated truth, it is deformed and hideous, and finds 
its place in hell, the abode of all that is ugly and abominable. 

But from this it is not to be concluded that the soul has 
life in itself. Like the body, it also is dead, and is only a 
form receptive of life from the One Only Infinite Life, in 
whom the whole universe lives, moves, and has its being, — 
the Lord. The material body is proximately sustained by 
the light and heat of the material sun. The spiritual body 
of man is sustained by the light and heat of the spiritual 
Sun, which is the circumambient sphere of the Divine Love 
and Wisdom. From this spiritual Sun, our natural sun 
exists, even as our material bodies live from our spiritual 
bodies. But all alike exist and subsist from the Lord 
alone. 

Such, in a few words, is the leading idea of this little trea- 
tise. For the details, the charming confirmation and the 
able and simple refutation of the doctrines of Leibnitz and 
other philosophers, who have treated on the same subject, we 
can only refer to the book itself. We append the concluding 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORGL 217 

paragraph of the treatise, as a delightful specimen of spirit- 
ual analogy : — 

" I was once asked, how I, who was previously a philoso- 
pher, became a theologian ; and I answered, ' In the same 
manner that fishermen became the disciples and apostles of 
the Lord : and that I also from my youth had been a spirit- 
ual fisherman.' On this, he asked, ' What is a spiritual fish- 
erman ?' I replied, — 'A fisherman, in the spiritual sense of 
the Word, signifies a man who investigates and teaches nat- 
ural truths, and afterwards spiritual truths in a rational 
manner.' On his inquiring, ' How is this demonstrated ?' I 
said, ' From these passages of the Word : 'And the waters 
shall fail from the sea, and the rivers shall be wasted and 
dried up. The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that 
cast a hook into the brook shall lament.' Isaiah xix. 5, 8. 
And in another place it is said, respecting the sea, whose 
waters were healed, ' The fishers shall stand upon it, from 
Engedi even unto Eneglaim ; they shall be present to spread 
forth nets ; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the 
fish of the great sea, exceeding many.' Ezekiel xlvii. 10. 
And in another place, ' Behold I will send for many fishers, 
saith Jehovah, and they shall fish them.' Jeremiah xvi. 16. 
Hence it is evident why the Lord chose fishermen for his 
disciples, and said, ' Follow me, and I will make you fishers 
of men;' Matthew iv. 18, 19; Mark i. 16, 17; and why 
he said to Peter after he had caught a multitude of fishes, 
' Henceforth thou shalt catch men.' Luke v. 9, 10. I af- 
terwards demonstrated the origin of this signification of 
fishermen from the Apocalypse Revealed; namely, that 
since water signifies natural truths, as does also a river, a 
fish signifies those who are in possession of natural truths ; 
and thence fishermen, those who investigate and teach truth. 
On hearing this, my interrogator said, ' Now I can under- 
stand why the Lord called and chose fishermen to be his 
19 K 



218 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

disciples ; and therefore I do not wonder that he has also 
chosen you, since, as you have observed, you were from early 
youth a fisherman in a spiritual sense, that is, an investiga- 
tor of natural truths ; and the reason that you are now be- 
come an investigator of spiritual truths, is because they are 
founded in the former/ To this he added, being a man of 
reason, that ' the Lord alone knows who is the proper person 
to apprehend and teach the truths of His New Church, 
whether one of the primates, or one of their domestic ser- 
vants. Besides/ he continued, ' what Christian theologian 
does not study philosophy in the schools, before he is inaug- 
urated a theologian/ At length he said, 'Since you are 
become a theologian, explain what is your theology/ I an- 
swered, ' These are its two principles, God is one, and there is 
a conjunction of charity and faith.' To which he replied, 
' Who denies these principles V I rejoined, ' The theology 
of the present day, when interiorly examined/ " 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 219 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Persecution,— ILetter to the Academy of Sciences.— -Leaves Stockholm 
for the last time. 

On Swedenborg's arrival in Stockholm, he found that the 
long peace he had enjoyed from external interference and 
persecution was at an end. The first manifestation of hos- 
tility took place in the seizure of some copies of his treatise 
on Conjugial Love, at Norkj oping, which he had sent from 
England, intending to present them to his countrymen. The 
ground of their seizure was, a law prohibiting the introduc- 
tion of any works into Sweden at variance with the Luthe- 
ran faith. The seizure having taken place in the diocese of 
his nephew Filenius, he naturally turned to him for expla- 
nation and redress. Filenius thereon embraced and kissed 
his uncle, and assured him that he would fulfill all his desires, 
and procure the restoration of his books. But his actions 
were the reverse of his words; for he was, in fact, the 
prompter of the seizure, and secretly did all he could to in- 
sure their confiscation. By and by Swedenborg discovered 
the hypocrisy, and remonstrated with Filenius ; whereupon 
he dropped the mask, and insisted on the books undergoing 
clerical revision before they could be surrendered. Sweden- 
borg urged that as his treatise was not theological, but chiefly 
moral, its revisal by the clergy was absurd, and that such 
censorship would pave the way for a dark age in Sweden. 
But Filenius was unmoved; and Swedenborg, now fully 
convinced of his double dealing, likened him, as he well 



220 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

might, to Judas Iscariot, and said that " he who spoke lies, 
lied also in his life." Having brought some copies of his 
treatise on Conjugial Love with him to Sweden, he presented 
them to many of the Senators, the Bishops, and the royal 
family. He had no fear of the result of free and open 
criticism. But worse things lay in store. Dean Ekebom, 
of Gottenburg, was indignant that Doctors Beyer and Rosen 
should have embraced Swedenborg's views, and the clerical 
deputies from that town were instructed to complain of Swe- 
denborg and his disciples to the Diet. They found in bishop 
Filenius, then President of the House of Clergy, a willing 
instrument to further their designs. They plotted to have 
Swedenborg put upon his trial, presuming that when ques- 
tioned he would openly assert his divine commission and 
powers of spiritual intercourse, and then they would pro- 
nounce him insane, and have him committed to a mad-house. 
Count Hopken revealed to Swedenborg this cunning device 
of his enemies, and advised him to fly the kingdom. At 
this news, Swedenborg was much afflicted ; and going into 
his garden, he fell on his knees, and prayed to the Lord to 
direct him what to do. After this prayer, he received the 
consolatory answer that no evil should touch him. And so it 
turned out. His inoffensive bearing, his rank and connec- 
tions, all tended to intimidate his adversaries, and prevent 
the execution of their designed outrage. Had he been a 
farmer's or a tradesman's son, instead of being a bishop's, 
his fate might have been very different. 

Bishop Filenius, however, succeeded in gaining the ap- 
pointment of a committee of the House of Clergy on the 
Swedenborgian case. Its deliberations were kept secret. 
Nothing came of it that was unfavorable to Swedenborg. 
They disregarded the charges of Filenius, and spoke "very 
handsomely and reasonably of Swedenborg." 

Filenius gained one point, however, in the presentation of 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 221 

a memorial to the king, requesting the attention of the 
Chancellor of Justice to the troubles at Gottenburg. To 
this request the king yielded; and the members of the Con- 
sistory of Gottenburg were commanded to send in an un- 
equivocal representation of the light in which they regarded 
Swedenborg's principles. On January 2d, 1770, Dr. Beyer, 
as one of the members of the Consistory, rose, and gave his 
bold and honest testimony in favor of Swedenborg and his 
writitings. He said: "Convinced by experience, I must in 
the first place observe, that no man is competent to give a 
just and suitable judgment on those writings, who has not 
read them ; or who has read them superficially, or with a de- 
termination in his heart to reject them, after having perused, 
without examination, some detached parts only; neither is 
he competent, who rejects them as soon as he finds anything 
that militates against those doctrines which he has long 
cherished and acknowledged as true, and of which perhaps 
he is but too blindly enamored; nor is he competent, who 
is an ardent, yet undiscriminating biblical scholar, who, in 
explaining the meaning of the Scriptures, confines his ideas 
to the literal expression or signification only: and, lastly, 
neither is he competent, who has altogether devoted himself 
to sensual indulgences, and the love of the world." He 
then entered into the details of New Church doctrine, and 
concluded in these words: "In obedience, therefore, to your 
Majesty's most gracious command, that I should deliver a 
full and positive declaration respecting the writings of Swe- 
denborg, I do acknowledge it to be my duty to declare, in 
all humble confidence, that as far as I have proceeded in the 
study of them, and agreeably to the gift: granted to me for 
investigation and judgment, I have found in them nothing 
but what closely coincides with the words of the Lord 
himself, and that they shine with a light truly divine" These 

19* 



222 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

were noble and brave words to speak in the midst of ene- 
mies. 

The debate on his doctrines dragged its slow length along. 
His enemies, full of spite, were yet full of fear, and seemed 
to dread the result of an open attack upon Swedenborg. 
Still the petty persecution continued, until, at last, May 10th, 
1770, Swedenborg took up his pen and addressed himself 
directly to the king. In this letter, he complains that he 
had met with usage the like of which had been offered to 
none since the establishment of Christianity in Sweden, and 
much less since there had existed liberty of conscience. He 
recapitulated his grievances. He said that he had been 
attacked, calumniated, and menaced, without the opportunity 
of defending himself; though truth itself had answered for 
him. He reminded his Majesty of their former interview. 
With great simplicity, he says : " I have already informed 
your Majesty, and beseech you to call it to mind, that the 
Lord our Saviour manifested himself to me in a sensible 
personal appearance; that he has commanded me to write 
what has been already written, and what I have still to 
write; that He was afterwards graciously pleased to endow 
me with the privilege of conversing with angels and spirits, 
and of being in fellowship with them. I have already de- 
clared this more than once to your Majesty in the presence 
of all the royal family, when they were graciously pleased 
to invite me to their table, with five senators, and several 
other persons; this was the only subject discoursed of during 
the repast. Of this I also spoke afterwards to several other 
senators ; and more openly to their Excellencies Count de 
Tessin, Count Bonde, and Count Hopken, who are still 
alive, and were satisfied with the truth of it. I have de- 
clared the same in England, Holland, Germany, Denmark, 
and at Paris, to kings, princes, and other particular persons, 
as well as to those in this kingdom. If the common report 






EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 223 

is to be believed, the Chancellor has declared that what I 
have been reciting are untruths, although the very truth. 
To say that they cannot believe and give credit to such 
things, therein will I excuse them ; for it is not in my power 
to place others in the same state in which God has placed 
me, so as to be able to convince tham, by their own eyes and 
ears of the truth of those deeds and things I publicly have 
made known. I have no ability to capacitate them to con- 
verse with angels and spirits, neither to work miracles to 
dispose or force their understandings to comprehend what I 
say. When my writings are read with attention and cool 
reflection, (in which many things are to be met with, hereto- 
fore unknown,) it is easy enough to conclude, that I could 
not come to such a knowledge but by a real vision, and by 
conversing with those who are in the spiritual world. This 
knowledge is given to me from our Saviour, not for any 
private merit of mine, but for the great concern of all 
Christians' salvation and happiness; and as such, how can 
any one venture to assert that it is false? That these things 
may appear such as many have had no conception of, and 
which, of consequence, they can not easily credit, has nothing 
remarkable in it, for scarcely anything is known respecting 
them." He concluded by throwing himself upon the king's 
protection, and requesting him to command for himself the 
opinion of the clergy on the case; also the production of 
various documents that had been produced at Gottenburg 
and elsewhere; in order that he, and those maligned together 
with him, might be heard in their defence, this being their 
right and privilege. He protested, that the only advice he 
had given to Doctors Beyer and Rosen, was to address 
themselves to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as a means 
to heavenly good and blessedness ; for He only has all power 
in heaven and on earth. Matthew xxviii. 18. Were this 
doctrine of the Supreme Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ 



224 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

taken away, he averred that he would rather live in Tartary 
than in Christendom. 

Had the Consistory declared this doctrine heretical, it 
must have led to many strange issues. But the Consistory 
came to no decision, and their report on Swedenborg's writ- 
ings was never written. A short time before Swedenborg 
left Stockholm for the last time, the king said to him : " The 
Consistory has been silent on my letters and your works ;" 
and, putting his hand on Swedenborg's shoulder, he added, 
" We may conclude that they have found nothing reprehen- 
sible in them, and that you have written in conformity to 
the truth." 

Throughout all this affair, Swedenborg remained perfectly 
calm; and, though a very old man, worked on as industri- 
ously as ever. It might seem, from what has been said, 
that the controversy had terminated entirely in his favor. 
But it was not so, as he, in the following year, 1771, found 
out; for then it appeared that his adversaries had succeeded 
in obtaining a strict prohibition against the importation 
of his writings into Sweden. It was his intention to send in 
a formal complaint to the States General, appealing against 
this prohibition ; but it does not appear whether he fulfilled 
his intention, or not. 

Finally, he addressed a letter to the Universities of Upsal, 
Lund, and Abo, asserting that each of the estates of the 
kingdom ought to have its own Consistory, and ought not to 
acknowledge the exclusive authority of that of Gottenburg. 
He declared that religious matters belong to others as well 
as the priests. Thus ends our account of this affair. It 
may be said to be the only thing approaching to persecution 
that Swedenborg endured; and considering the many hetero- 
dox opinions that he broached, we can not but think that he 
had, on the whole, but little to complain of. Many who 
have followed him in the propagation of the new theology, 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 225 

have not gone so far, yet have fared worse. The gentleness 
and simple prudence which, during so many years, shielded 
him from interference, we can not too highly admire. But, 
above all, we must be struck with the remarkable providence 
of the Lord, shown in his protection: the Divine promise 
was truly kept, that he should not be harmed. 

His old associates of the Eoyal Academy of Sciences at 
Stockholm, received, at this time, his last communication. 
He wrote them a letter explaining some of the correspond- 
ences of Scripture, and their origin. In it, he says: "The 
science of correspondences was esteemed, by the ancients, 
the science of sciences, and constituted their wisdom; it 
would surely be of importance for some one of your society 
to devote his attention to it. Should it be desired, I am 
willing to unfold the meaning of the Egyptian hieroglyphics, 
which are nothing else but corrrespondences ; these being 
discovered and proved from the Word, in the Apocalypse 
Revealed ; and to publish their explications, is a work which 
no other person could accomplish." We have no record as 
to how the Academy received this proposal. A copy of this 
letter was sent to Mr. Hartley, and Swedenborg desired that 
he and his friends would think over the subject. The letter 
is now published as an appendix to his treatise on the White 
Horse. 

Swedenborg now prepared to leave Stockholm for another 
journey. Writing under date of July 23d, 1770, to Dr. 
Beyer, he says: "As I am going, in a few days, to Amster- 
dam, I shall take my leave of you in this letter, hoping that 
our Saviour will support you in good health, preserve you 
from further violence, and bless your thoughts." 

Robsahm tells us that, on the day that Swedenborg 
departed, he called on him, and "I then asked him," says 
he, "if we should meet again. He answered me ra a tender 
and touching: manner: 'I do not know whether I shall 



226 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

return; but I am assured I shall not die before I have 
finished the publication of the book entitled the True Chris- 
tian Religion; and for which only I am now about to depart. 
But should we not see one another again in this lower world, 
we shall meet in the presence of the Lord our Heavenly 
Father, if so be that we observe to do his commandments.' 
He then took a cheerful leave, and started on his last 
journey, with the apparent vigor of a man of thirty years 
of age, although he was then eighty-two. He took ship for 
Amsterdam, leaving his native land, never again, in the 
body, to return." 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 227 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Swederiboi*g in intercourse with General Tuxen and Paulus ab In- 
dagine — His reply to Dr. Ernesti — Letter to the X,andgrave of Hesse 
Darmstadt. 

On the voyage to Amsterdam, the ship that carried Swe- 
denborg being detained, by adverse winds, off Elsinore, 
General Tuxen, hearing that Swedenborg was in the offing, 
determined to improve the opportunity ; and, taking a boat, 
went off to see him. Introduced by the captain into the 
cabin, he found Swedenborg seated in an undress, — his el- 
bows on the table, and his hands supporting his face, which 
was turned towards the door, — his eyes open and much ele- 
vated. The General at once addressed him. At this, he 
recovered himself, (for he had been in a state of vision,) 
rose with some confusion, advanced a few steps in visible 
uncertainty, and then bade him welcome, asking whence he 
came. Tuxen replied that he had come with an invitation 
from his wife and himself, to request him to favor them with 
his company at their house ; to which he immediately con- 
sented, and dressed himself alertly. The General's wife, who 
was indisposed, received him in the house, and requested his 
excuse if in any respect she should fall short of her wishes 
to entertain him : adding that for thirty years she had been 
afflicted with a painful disease. Swedenborg politely kissed 
her hand, and answered, " Let us not speak of this ; only 
acquiesce in the will of God, and it will pass away, and you 
will return to the same health and beauty as when you were 



228 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

fifteen years old." The lady made some reply, to which he 
rejoined, " Yes, in a few weeks." From which they concluded 
him to mean that diseases which have their foundation in the 
mind, and are supported by infirmities of the body, do not 
disappear immediately after death. 

" Being then together," says Tuxen, " in company with 
my wife, my now deceased daughter, and three or four young 
ladies, my relations, he entertained them very politely, and 
with much attention, on indifferent subjects, on favourite 
dogs and cats that were in the room, which caressed him, 
and jumped on his knee, showing their little tricks. Du- 
ring these trifling discourses, — mixed with singular questions, 
all of which he obligingly answered, whether they concerned 
this or the other world, — I took occasion to say that I was 
sorry I had no better company to amuse him than a sickly 
wife and her young girls : he replied, 'And is not this very 
good company ? I was always very partial to ladies' soci- 
ety.' After some little pause, he cast his eyes on a harpsi- 
chord, and asked whether we were lovers of music, and who 
played upon it. I told him we were all lovers of it, and 
that my wife in her youth had practiced, as she had a fine 
voice, perhaps better than any in Denmark, as several per- 
sons of distinction, who had heard the best singers in France, 
England, and Italy, had assured her ; and that my daughter 
also played with pretty good taste. On this Swedenborg 
desired her to play. She then performed a difficult and cel- 
ebrated sonata, to which he beat the measure with his foot 
on the sofa on which he sat ; and when finished, he said, 
1 Bravo ! very fine.' She then played another by Butini ; 
and when she had played a few minutes, he said, ' This is by 
an Italian, but the first was not.' This finished, he said, 
' Bravo ! you play very well. Do you not also sing ?' She 
answered, ' I sing, but have not a very good voice, though 
fond of singing, and would sing if my mother would accom- 



EMANUEL SWEDENB011G. 229 

p.xny me.' He requested my wife to join, to which she 
assented, and they sang a few Italian duettos, and some 
French airs, each in her respective taste, to which he beat 
time, and afterwards paid many compliments to my wife, on 
account of her taste and fine voice, which she had preserved 
notwithstanding so long an illness. I took the liberty of 
saying to him, that since in his writings he always declared 
that at all times there were good and evil spirits of the other 
world present with man; might I then be bold to ask, 
whether now, while my wife and daughter were singing, there 
had been any from the other world present with us ? To 
this he answered, ' Yes, certainly ;' and on my inquiring who 
they were, and whether I had known them, he said it was 
the Danish royal family, and he mentioned Christian VI., 
Sophia Magdalena, and Frederick V., who, through his eyes, 
had seen and heard it. I do not positively recollect whether 
he also mentioned the late beloved Queen Louisa among 
them. After this he retired." 

During this visit to General Tuxen, in the course of other 
conversation, Tuxen produced an autobiographical letter 
which Swedenborg had written to Hartley, and which began, 
"I was born in the year 1689." Swedenborg told him that 
he was not born in that year, as mentioned, but in the pre- 
ceding. Tuxen asked him if this was an error of the press. 
He said " No ;" and added, " you may remember in reading 
my writings to have seen it stated in many parts, that every 
cipher or number has in the spiritual sense a certain corres- 
pondence or signification. Now," said he, " when I put the 
true year in that letter, an angel present told me to write 
the year 1689, as much more suitable to myself than the 
other ; ' and you observe/ added the angel, ' that with us 
time and space are nothing.' " 

We give these anecdotes as Tuxen relates them. Every 
one, however, will know from his private experience how 
20 



230 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

little absolute dependence is to be placed upon narrations 
of conversations, or actions, by even the most truthful. Sir 
Walter Kaleigh, while writing his History of the World, 
was led to think of the errors into which he might be led, 
by observing that an affray beneath his prison wall was 
variously described by several eye-witnesses. If the occur- 
rences of the present are so liable to misstatement, what sort 
of faith can we place in the history of the past? Wilkinson, 
commenting on this anecdote of the date of Swedenborg's 
birth, remarks, in his usual keen style: "We have here a 
reason for that modification of events according to a context, 
of which the Gospel histories, so often discrepant from each 
other, furnish numerous instances. Manifestly it is the plan 
of the context which regards the events from its own point 
of view, and paints the narrative in its own colors. It is 
what all historians do in a lesser way, bending the history 
to ideas, or shaping it with an artistic force. Taking a 
certain larger block of time as a period of birth, it is hiero- 
glyphically truthful to play down upon any date contained 
in the block, according to the subject and signification. 
There are many kinds of truth besides black and white; 
and generally, figurative truths require latitude of phrase. 
At the same time it must be confessed that one would like 
to know when the writing is pure history, and when it is a 
base of history, made use of for symbolical purposes, and 
touched, in part, by spirit. Literal people are apt to be 
offended otherwise, and we sympathize with them." 

Swedenborg arrived in Amsterdam some time in Septem- 
ber, 1770, and straightway set about printing his manuscript 
of the "True Christian Keligion." From two letters of a 
gentleman, named D. Paulus ab Indagine, who seems to 
have been on familiar terms with Swedenborg, we select the 
following passages, illustrative of this period of his life. He 
writes: — "You asked me what this venerable old man, 






EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 231 

Swedenborg, is now doing. This I can tell you; he eats 
and drinks very moderately, but keeps his chamber rather 
long, and thirteen hours appear to be not too much for 
him.* When I informed him that his work ' On the Earths 
in the Universe' had been translated and published, he was 
much delighted, and his eyes, which are always smiling, 
became still more brilliant. He is now indefatigably at 
work; yea, I must say that he labors in a most astonishing 
and superhuman manner at his new work. Only think! 
for every printed sheet, 4to, he has to procure four sheets 
of manuscript; he now prints two sheets every week, and 
corrects them himself, and consequently he has to write 
eight sheets every week; and what appears to me utterly 
inconceivable, he has not a single line beforehand in store.f 
His work is to consist, as he himself states, of about eighty 
sheets in print. The title of this work is the following: — 
' True Christian Religion, Containing the Universal Theology 
of the New Church, Predicted by the Lord in Daniel viii. 
13, 14, and in the Apocalypse, xxi. 1, 2; By Emanuel 
Swedenborg, Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ/ I could 
not, in my open manner, conceal my astonishment that he 
should put himself upon the title page as the servant of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. But he replied: 'I have asked, and 
have not only received permission, but have been ordered to 
do so/ It is astonishing with what confidence the old gentle- 
man speaks of the spiritual world, of the angels, and of God 
himself. If I were only to give you the substance of our 
last conversation, it would nil many pages. He spoke 

*Tt is not to be supposed that this time was wasted in sleep. In his 
meditations and spiritual intercourse, he, no doubt, loved the seclusion 
of his quiet chamber. 

| This is quite a mistake. His work he had in contemplation for some 
years. It is probable the revisal, alterations, and additions in the MS. 
and in the proofs, led Paulus into this misconception. 



232 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

of naturalists, those who ascribe all things to nature, whom 
he had seen shortly after death, and amongst them were 
even many theologians, or such, at least, as had made 
theology their profession in this life. He told me things 
which made me shudder, but which, however, I pass by, in 
order not to be over-hasty in my judgment respecting him. 
I will willingly admit that I know not what to make of him ; 
he is a problem that I can not solve. I sincerely wish that 
upright men, whom God has placed as watchmen upon the 
walls of Zion, had some time since occupied themselves with 
this man. 

"I can not forbear to tell you something new about 
Swedenborg. Last Thursday I paid him a visit, and found 
him, as usual, writing. He told me that he had been in 
conversation that same morning, for three hours, with the 
deceased king of Sweden. He had seen him already on 
Wednesday ; but as he observed that he was deeply engaged 
in conversation with the queen, who is still living, he would 
not disturb him. I allowed him to continue, but at length 
asked him how it was possible for a person who is still in the 
land of the living, to be met with in the world of spirits. 
He replied, that it was not the queen herself, but her 
spiritus familiaris, or her familiar spirit. I asked him what 
that might be; for I had neither heard from him anything 
respecting appearances of that kind, nor had I read anything 
about them. He then informed me that every man has 
either his good or bad spirit, who is not only constantly with 
him, but sometimes a little removed from him, and appears 
in the world of spirits. But of this, the man still living 
knows nothing; the spirit, however, knows everything. This 
familiar spirit has everything in accordance with his com- 
panion on earth; he has, in the world of spirits, the same 
figure, the same countenance, and the same tone of voice, 
and wears also similar garments; in a word, this familiar 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 233 

spirit of the queen, said Swedenborg, appeared exactly as he 
had so often seen the queen herself at Stockholm, and had 
heard her speak. In order to allay rny astonishment, he 
added that Dr. Ernesti, of Leipsic, had appeared to him, in 
a similar manner, in the world of spirits, and that he had 
held a long disputation with him. What will the learned 
professor say, when he comes to hear of it? Probably he 
will say that the old man is in his second childhood; he will 
only laugh at it, and who can be surprised? I have often 
wondered at myself, how I could refrain from laughing, 
when I was hearing such extraordinary things from him. 
And what is more, I have often heard him relate the same 
things in a numerous company of ladies and gentlemen, 
when I well knew there were mockers amongst them ; but, 
to my great astonishment, not a single person thought 
of laughing. Whilst he is speaking, it is as though every 
person who hears him were charmed, and compelled to 
believe him. He is by no means reserved and recluse, but 
open-hearted and accessible to all. Whoever invites him as 
his guest, may expect to see him. A certain young gentle- 
man invited him last week to be his guest, and, although he 
was not acquainted with him, he appeared at his table, 
where he met Jewish and Portuguese gentlemen, with whom 
he freely conversed, without distinction. Whoever is curious 
to see him, has no difficulty; it is only necessary to go to 
his house, and he allows anybody to approach him. It can 
easily be conceived, however, that the numerous visits, to 
which he is liable, deprive him of much time." 

About this time, Dr. Ernesti attacked Swedenborg in his 
Bibliotheca Theologica, and, in reply, Swedenborg published 
a single leaf, which, in its decisive sharpness, is truly effec- 
tive. It is as follows : — 

" I have read what Dr. ,Ernesti has written about me. It 
consists of mere personalities. I do not in it observe a grain 

20* 



284 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

of reason against anything in my writings. As it is against 
the laws of honesty to assail any one with such poisoned 
weapons, I think it beneath rne to bandy words with that 
illustrious man. I will not cast back calumnies by calum- 
nies. To do this, I should be even with the dogs, which bark 
and bite, or with the lowest drabs, which throw street mud in 
each other's faces in their brawls. Read, if you will, what 
I have written in my books, and afterwards conclude, but 
from reason, respecting my revelation." 

The Landgrave of Hesse Darmstadt now wrote to Swe- 
denborg, requesting information on several subjects. Swe- 
denborg having doubt as to the genuineness of the epistle, 
did not at first reply to it, until his misgivings were set aside 
by M. Venator, the minister of that prince. In his reply to 
the Landgrave, he says : " The Lord our Saviour had fore- 
told that He would come again into the world, and that he 
would establish there a New Church. But as He cannot 
come again into the world in person, it was necessary that 
He should do it by means of a man, who should not only 
receive the doctrine of this New Church in his understand- 
ing, but also publish it by printing ; and as the Lord had 
prepared me for this office from my infancy, He has mani- 
fested Himself in person before me, His servant, and sent me 
to fill it." 

The Landgrave again wrote to Swedenborg, inquiring 
about the " miracle" of his intercourse with the Queen of 
Sweden's brother, and Swedenborg answered that the story 
was true, but " not a miracle." He also wrote to M. Vena- 
tor, "that such matters ought, by no means, to be considered 
miracles : they are only testimonies that I have been intro- 
duced by the Lord into the spiritual world, and that I have 
been in association with angels and spirits, in order that the 
Church, which until now had remained in ignorance con- 
cerning that world, may know that heaven and hell exist in 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 235 

reality, and that man lives after death, a man, as before ; 
and that thus there may be no more doubt as to his immor- 
tality. Deign, I pray you, to satisfy his Highness, that these 
are not miracles, but only testimonies that I converse with 
angels and spirits. You may see in the ' True Christian Re- 
ligion' that there are no more miracles at this time ; and the 
reason why. It is, that they who do not believe because they 
see no miracles, might easily, by them, be led into fanaticism." 
Writing of miracles, Swedenborg remarks in another 
place, " Instead of miracles, there has taken place, at the 
present day, an open manifestation of the Lord himself, an 
intromission into the spiritual world, and with it, illumina- 
tion by immediate light from the Lord in whatever relates 
to the interior things of the Church, but principally an 
opening of the spiritual sense of the Word, in which the 
Lord is present in his own Divine light. These revelations 
are not miracles, because every man, as to his spirit, is in 
the spiritual world, without separation from his body in the 
natural world. As to myself, indeed, my presence in the 
spiritual world is attended with a certain separation, but only 
as to the intellectual part of my mind, not as to the will 
part. This manifestation of the Lord, and intromission 
into the spiritual world, is more excellent than all miracles ; 
but it has not been granted to any one since the creation 
of the world, as it has been to me. The men of the golden 
age, indeed, conversed with angels ; but it was not granted 
to them to be in any other light than what was natural. 
To me, however, it has been granted to be in both spiritual 
and natural light at the same time; and hereby I have 
been privileged to see the wonderful things of heaven, to be 
in company with angels, just as I am with men, and at the 
same time to pursue truths in the light of truth, and thus to 
perceive and be gifted with them, consequently to be led by 
the Lord." 



236 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

The True Christian Jteligion, 

In the early part of 1771, Swedenborg published his 
"True Christian Religion, or, Universal Theology of the 
New Church ;" and in August of the same year took ship, 
and left Amsterdam for London. Let us now turn to the 
consideration of his last great work, — a summary of the 
doctrines he was commissioned to teach. 

" The True Christian Religion, containing the Universal 
Theology of the New Church," the last work published by 
Swedenborg, may be looked upon as the summary of his 
spiritual thought, his theological labors, his heavenly message 
to mankind. In its ninth English edition, it forms a large 
octavo volume of 815 pages, and is a complete body of di- 
vinity. It is divided into fifteen chapters, a Supplement 
treating of the states of Luther, Calvin, and Melancthon, 
the Dutch, English, Germans, Papists, Romish saints, Ma- 
hommedans, and the Africans, in the spiritual world ; and 
seventy-seven memorable relations of scenes and representa- 
tions witnessed in that world, interspersed between the 
various chapters; altogether forming a volume unique in 
literature, ancient or modern. At the risk of an occa- 
sional repetition of what has before been said, let us take a 
rapid survey of the contents of this massive and marvellous 
work. 

Chapter I. treats of God the Creator, His Unity, the Di- 
vine Esse which is Jehovah, His Infinity or His Immensity 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 237 

and Eternity, the Essence of God which is His Divine Love 
and Wisdom, His Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omni- 
presence, and of the creation of the universe. On these 
sublime subjects, themes on which, for ages, the weary reason 
of man has exerted itself with the poorest results, Sweden- 
borg, with a mathematical exactness, sets forth the true 
doctrine ; and with a simplicity of logic which at every step 
calls the Word of God, and the reason and common sense 
of man, to witness ; leading the reader to wonder why truths 
so simple, so soul-satisfying, should have been hidden from 
human eyes so long. Whilst elucidating subjects commonly 
supposed to transcend human ideas, and yet which humanity 
is ever restless to discover, — reverence is in nowise deprived 
of its exercise. It is a great mistake, yet a common one, to 
associate mystery with true reverence; to talk of "igno- 
rance" as " the mother of devotion." Let any one ask him- 
self whether the reverence of Sir Isaac Newton for that God 
whose operations in the universe he was favored to discover, 
was inferior to that of an ignorant devotee, or an illiterate 
peasant. No. A knowledge of God and His attributes is 
no destroyer of faith, reverence, or devotion, but the reverse. 
Our knowledge of Him, however extended, is but the en- 
largement of a circle, which, as it is enlarged, expands our 
conception of the infinity beyond. Hence it is that whilst 
this chapter on God the Creator, goes into details which are 
the death of mysticism, the truths which it opens to the mind 
lead to an intelligent and reverential love, to which ignorance 
can never attain. 

Chapter II. is devoted to the consideration of the Lord 
the Redeemer. It tells how Jehovah God descended and 
assumed humanity, that He might redeem and save man- 
kind ; and how the humanity was united to the Divinity, 
and thus God was made man, and man God, in one Person ; 
that Redemption consisted in bringing the hells into subjec- 



238 LIFE AND WETTINGS OF 






tion, and the heavens into order, and in thus preparing the 
way for a new spiritual Church ; and how, without such Re- 
demption, neither could men have been saved, nor could the 
angels have remained in a state of integrity. Thus Redemp- 
tion was a work purely divine, and could not have been 
effected but by God Incarnate. The passion of the cross 
was in itself alone not Redemption, but was the last tempta- 
tion the Lord endured in His Humanity ; and it was the 
means of the glorification of that humanity. Hence it is a 
fundamental error of the Church to believe the passion of 
the cross to be Redemption itself; and this error, together 
with that relating to three Divine Persons from eternity, 
has perverted the whole system of Christian theology. 

Chapter III. sets forth the doctrine of the Holy Spirit 
and the Divine Operation. The Holy Spirit is the Divine 
Truth, and also the Divine Virtue and Operation, proceed- 
ing from the One God, in whom there is the Divine Trinity, 
thus from the Lord God the Saviour, Jesus Christ. The 
Divine Virtue and Operation in and on humanity, signi- 
fied by the Holy Spirit, consists, in general, in reformation 
and regeneration ; and, in proportion as these are effected, 
in renovation, vivification, sanctification, and justification ; 
and in proportion as these are effected, in purification from 
evils, remission of sins, and finally salvation. The Holy 
Spirit being the efflux of Jehovah through the glorified 
humanity, did not exist until after the incarnation. Hence 
it is nowhere said in the Old Testament, that the prophets 
spoke from the Holy Spirit, but from Jehovah God. We 
have a beautiful and irresistible confirmation of this truth 
in these words, " for the Holy Spirit was not yet, because 
that Jesus was not yet glorified." John vii. 39. 

In this chapter he also speaks of the Trinity. There is a 
Divine Trinity, consisting of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ; 
and these three are the three Essentials of One God, — which 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 239 

make a One, like soul, body, and operation in man. To 
conceive of a Trinity of Divine persons from eternity, is to 
think of three Gods ; and no amount of word-playing and 
creed-making can prevent the mind from falling into Trithe- 
ism, as long as a Trinity of persons and not of essentials is 
spoken and thought of. A Trinity of persons was unknown 
in the Apostolic Church. The doctrine was first broached 
by the Council of Mce, and thence received into the Koman 
Catholic Church, and thus propagated among the Keformed 
Churches. The Mcene and Athanasian doctrines concern- 
ing a Trinity, have, together, given rise to a faith which has 
entirely perverted the Christian Church; and hence has come 
that " abomination of desolation, and that affliction, such as 
was not in all the world, neither shall be," which the Lord 
has foretold in Daniel, the Evangelists, and the Revelation. 
For when the Church ceases to know its God, the central 
point of all faith and doctrine, all subsidiary points must 
necessarily become involved in darkness. And thus it is 
that the Athanasian creed has given rise to so many absurd 
notions about God, and hence, also, to an innumerable 
brood of heresies and phantasies on every point of doctrine 
and life ; so much so, that had not the Lord effected a Last 
Judgment in 1757, and established a New Heaven and a 
New Church, no flesh could have been saved. The "healing 
of the nations," the new life, light and heat, that have 
coursed through humanity during the past century, attest 
the working of Omnipotence for the salvation and restora- 
tion of what is most valuable and precious in man. 

Chapter IV. is an exposition of the nature of the Sacred 
Scripture, or the Word of the Lord, proving it to be the 
Divine Truth itself. The spiritual sense of the Word, and 
the means by which it is unfolded, together with the law 
of its composition, are explained at length, and with great 
perspicuity. It is shown that the spiritual sense is in all 



240 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

and every part of the Word, that hence it is divinely 
inspired, and is holy in every syllable. Nevertheless the 
literal sense is not to be disregarded. It is the basis, the 
continent, and the firmament of the spiritual sense; in it the 
Divine Truth is in its fullness, its sanctity, and its power; 
from it the doctrine of the Church is to be drawn and 
confirmed; and by it conjunction with the Lord and con- 
sociation with the angels is effected. The Word is in all 
the heavens, and the wisdom of the angels is thence derived. 
The Church exists from the Word, and the quality of the 
Church with man is according to his understanding of the 
Word. The marriage of Goodness and Truth, and of the 
Lord and the Church, is in every part of the Word. Men 
may collect and imbibe heretical opinions from the letter 
of the Word; but it is hurtful to confirm such opinions. 
Many things in the Word are appearances of truth, in which 
genuine truths lie concealed; and many fallacies arise from 
the taking of these appearances of truth for genuine or 
absolute truth. The literal sense of the Word is a guard to 
the genuine truths contained in it, and in the Word is 
represented by cherubs. To the wicked, it is a mercy that 
spiritual truth is thus hidden; for if known and not obeyed, 
it is profaned, and profanation involves the deepest suffering 
and distress. The Lord, during his abode in the world, 
fulfilled all things contained in the Word, and was thus 
made the Word, that is, the Divine Truth, even in ultimates. 
Previous to the Word which the world now possesses, there 
was a Word which is lost, but is preserved in heaven among 
the angels who lived as men in those times, and is also 
extant among certain nations in Great Tartary, who, how- 
ever, have probably no true idea of the treasure they possess. 
By means of the Word, light is communicated to those who 
are out of the pale of the Church, and are not in possession 
of the Word. This is effected outwardly by the communica- 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 241 

tions of commerce, with those nations who have the Word; 
and internally and insensibly by that community of soul 
which makes humanity appear before the Lord as one man. 
There is no thought conceived, no deed done, but which 
radiates from soul to soul, and produces effects of which the 
doer is not conscious. Thus it is that the Church — composed 
of the men who read, love, and obey the Word — benefits the 
world, and conjoins it with heaven and the Lord. Without 
the Word, no one would have any knowledge of God, 
of heaven and hell, or of a life after death, and much less 
of the Lord. The multiplicity of points involved in these 
statements, receive, in this chapter on the Sacred Scripture, 
most copious illustrations, both from the Word itself, and 
from the common experience of mankind. In reading this 
chapter, every candid person will feel that, strange and 
novel as many of the statements are, he is not dealing with 
a mere theorizer; and that facts and even Revelation itself 
must be done away, ere the doctrine of the Sacred Scripture 
here revealed can be overthrown or proved erroneous. 

Chapter V. explains the Decalogue, or the Ten Command- 
ments, as to their external and internal sense. The Deca- 
logue, in the Israelitish Church, was the very essence of 
holiness, and from it the ark and the tabernacle derived 
their sanctity. In the Ten Commandments are contained 
all things which relate to love to God, and love towards our 
neighbor. In its literal sense, the Decalogue contains gen- 
eral precepts of doctrine and life, but in its spiritual and 
celestial sense it contains all precepts universally. Sweden- 
borg then takes up each commandment singly, and gives an 
exposition of its literal, spiritual, and celestial application; 
and when he has done this, we perceive that these Ten 
Commandments, which every school-boy repeats and feels 
he understands, nevertheless contain all precepts, and are 
such as may afford guidance to the wisest angel, and that 
21 L 



242 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

man can never outgrow them. Taking, for instance, the 
Seventh Commandment, (the eighth, according to the com- 
mon numbering,) "Thou shalt not steal," he explains it in 
the natural sense, after the common acceptation. In the 
spiritual sense, he shows that to steal means to deprive 
others of the truths which they embrace in faith, in teaching 
doctrines known to be false, or teaching for the sake of gain ; 
and in destroying in others, either by word or deed, those 
truths which lead to salvation. In the celestial sense, to 
steal is to take away divine power from the Lord, to be 
vain, to be proud, to arrogate to ourselves the merit and 
righteousness which are the divine gifts. All who do such 
things, notwithstanding their seeming adoration of God, do 
not trust in Him, but in themselves; and likewise do not 
believe in God, but in themselves; they steal from God; 
they are spiritual thieves; and every one who knows his 
own heart, must know how often he must refer to this 
commandment, in order to govern his life, and restrain his 
thoughts, before he can know perfect obedience, and be in 
truth a child of God. As with this commandment, so with 
all. We need to think of them every day, and to use them 
in all our states. If we purpose to lead a true and happy 
life, we must cherish them as constant companions. 

Chapter VI. treats of Faith. Faith, it is said, is first in 
regard to time, and charity is first in regard to end ; that is, 
the use of faith is to lead to charity. A saving faith is a 
faith in the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ, because He 
is the visible God in whom is the invisible. Faith, in gen- 
eral, consists in a belief that the Lord will save all who live 
a good life and believe aright ; and a man receives this faith 
in consequence of approaching the Lord, learning truths 
from the Word, and living a life in conformity with them. 
Faith without charity is not faith, and charity without faith 
is not charity ; and neither faith nor charity has any life in 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 243 

it but from the Lord. Although a man has power given 
him to procure for himself faith and charity, and the life of 
faith and charity, yet nothing of faith, charity, or the life 
of either, is from man, but from the Lord alone. Charity 
and faith are together in good works ; for charity consists in 
willing what is good, and good works consist in doing what 
is good, from and under the influence of a good will ; and 
both charity and faith are merely mental and perishable 
things, unless they are determined to works, and co-exist in 
them, whenever there is opportunity. The wicked have no 
faith, because wickedness is of hell, and faith is of heaven, 
and all the truth of faith is derived from heaven. Faith 
cannot dwell with evil, for evil is like fire, — infernal fire 
being the love of evil, which consumes faith like stubble, 
and reduces it and all that belongs to it to ashes. Evil 
dwells in darkness, and faith in light ; and evil by means of 
the falsehood which it loves, extinguishes faith, as darkness 
does light. And because the world is at this day full of 
evil, (notwithstanding the morality of life, and the ration- 
ality with which faith is spoken and written about,) of true 
faith there is almost none, because of goodness there is al- 
most none. 

Chapter VII. discourses of love towards our neighbor, and 
good works. It is introduced by the statement that there 
are three universal loves, the love of heaven, the love of the 
world, and the love of self. These three loves, when they 
are in right subordination, make a man perfect ; but when 
they are not in right subordination, they pervert and invert 
him. The love of self and of the world are not in them- 
selves evil. When the love of heaven, that is, the love of 
God, of goodness and truth, is supreme in the mind, and the 
world is loved as a means to do good, and self is cared for 
that uses to the neighbor may be performed, — then the love 
of self and of the world are orderly and justifiable. But 



24-4 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

when the love of God and heaven is dethroned, and the love 
of self or of the world rules, and a man is religious and just 
only so far as religion and justice conduce to self-interest 
and thus God and justice and all things holy are put to vile 
uses, then the soul of man is inverted, — is a form of hell ; 
and in the light of heaven appears bestial, ugly, and de- 
formed. 

Every individual man is the neighbor whom we ought to 
love, but according to the quality of his goodness or his life. 
Man considered collectively, that is, as a lesser or larger so- 
ciety, and considered under the idea of compound societies, 
that is, as our country, — is the neighbor that ought to be 
loved. The Church is our neighbor, to be loved in a still 
higher degree, and the Lord's kingdom is our neighbor to be 
loved in the highest degree. To love the neighbor is not to 
love his person, but the good which is in him. Charity it- 
self consists in acting justly and faithfully in whatever office, 
business, and employment a person is engaged, and with 
whomsoever he has any connection. Eleemosynary acts of 
charity consist in giving to the poor, and relieving the indi- 
gent, but with prudence. There are public, domestic, and 
private duties of charity. Public duties of charity are, 
more especially, the payment of imposts and taxes. These 
are paid with different feelings by those who are spiritual 
and by those who are natural : those who are spiritual pay 
them out of good will, because they are collected for the 
preservation and protection of their country and the church, 
and as a provision for the proper officers and governors, who 
must receive their salaries out of the public treasury; there- 
fore those who consider their country and the church as their 
neighbor, pay such debts cheerfully and with a willing mind, 
and consider it a wicked act either to withhold them or to 
use any deceit in the payment ; whereas those who do not 
esteem their country and the church as their neighbor, pay 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 245 

such debts with a reluctant and unwilling mind, and, as 
often as they have an opportunity, withhold them, or use 
some fraud in the payment ; for they regard only their own 
house and their own flesh as their neighbor. The domestic 
duties of charity are of several kinds, as those of a husband 
to his wife, and of a wife to her husband ; of parents to 
their children, and of children to their parents ; likewise of 
a master and mistress to their servants, and of servants to 
their master and mistress. There are so many duties relating 
to the education of children, and the government of fami- 
lies, that it would require a volume to enumerate them. As 
to what particularly regards the duties of parents to their 
children, there is an intrinsic difference in this respect with 
those who are under the influence of charity, and with those 
who are not, although externally the duties may appear 
similar. With those who are under the influence of charity, 
parental affection is joined with love toward their neighbor 
and love to God, and such parents love their children ac- 
cording to their morals, virtues, pursuits, and qualifications 
for the service of the public ; but with those who are not 
under the influence of charity, there is no conjunction of 
charity with parental affection ; the consequence is, that such 
parents frequently love wicked, immoral, and crafty chil- 
dren, more than those who are good, moral, and prudent ; 
and thus prefer such as are unserviceable to the public, be- 
fore such as are serviceable. Private duties of charity are 
also of several kinds, such as paying wages to workmen, 
returning borrowed money, observing agreements, keeping 
pledges, and other transactions of a like nature, some of 
which are duties grounded in statute law, some in civil law, 
and some in moral law. These duties, also, are discharged 
from different motives by those who are under the influence 
of charity, and by those who are not ; by the former they 
are discharged faithfully and justly, for the law of charity 



246 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

requires that a man should so act in all his dealings, with 
whomsoever he may have any connection ; but these duties 
are discharged in a totally different manner by those who 
are not influenced by charity. Then there are convivial re- 
creations of charity, which consist of dinners and suppers 
and social intercourse. Every one knows that dinner and 
supper parties are in general use, and are given to promote 
various ends ; by many on account of friendship, relation- 
ship, mirth, gain, recompense, and for party purposes of 
corruption ; among the great they are given on account of 
their dignity ; and in the palaces of kings, for the display 
of splendor and magnificence. But dinners and suppers of 
charity are given only by those who are influenced by mu- 
tual love grounded in a similarity of faith. Among Chris- 
tians in the Primitive Church, dinners and suppers had this 
end alone in view, and were called feasts, being instituted 
that they might meet together in cordial joy and friendly 
union. At table, the guests conversed together on various 
subjects, domestic and civil, but particularly on such as con- 
cerned the Church ; and as these feasts were feasts of char- 
ity, their conversation on every subject was influenced by 
charity, with all its joys and delights. The spiritual sphere 
which prevailed on such occasions, was a sphere of love to 
the Lord and toward the neighbor, which exhilarated every 
mind, softened the tone of every expression, and communi- 
cated to all the senses a festivity from the heart ; for from 
every man there emanates a spiritual sphere, derived from 
the affection of his love and corresponding thought, which 
inwardly affects those in his company, particularly at the 
time of convivial recreations. 

The first part of charity consists in putting away evils, 
and the second in doing actions that are useful to our 
neighbor. It is believed by many, at the present day, that 
charity consists only in doing good, and that while a mai~ is 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 247 

doing good, he does no evil; consequently, that the first part 
of charity is to do good, and the second not to do evil : but 
the case is altogether the reverse, it being the first part 
of charity to put away evil, and the second to do good. 
For it is a universal law in the spiritual world, and thence 
too in the natural world, that so far as a person wills no 
evil, he wills what is good; consequently, so far as he turns 
himself away from hell, whence all evil ascends, he turns 
himself toward heaven, whence all good descends; and, 
therefore, so far as any one rejects the devil, he is accepted 
by the Lord. In performing the exercises of charity, a man 
does not ascribe merit to works, so long as he believes that 
all good is from the Lord. Moral life, if it is at the same 
time spiritual life, is charity. The friendship of love, con- 
tracted with a person without regard to his spiritual quality, 
is detrimental after death. The friendship of love, among 
the wicked, is intestine hatred toward each other. There is 
spurious charity, hypocritical charity, and dead charity. 
There can be no such thing as genuine charity, which is 
living, unless it make one with faith, and unless both in 
conjunction look to the Lord. Spurious charity is such as 
is the charity of those who hold to faith alone for salvation, 
and who say charity is of no account in leading to heaven. 
Such charity as these may have is spurious, because not 
spiritual, and merely performed from selfish and worldly 
motives. Hypocritical charity is predicable of those who, 
in public or private worship, bow themselves almost to the 
ground before God, pour forth long prayers with great 
devotion, put on a sanctified appearance, kiss crucifixes and 
bones of the dead, and kneel at sepulchers, and there mutter 
words expressive of holy veneration toward God, and yet, 
in their hearts nourish self-worship, and seek to be adored 
like so many deities. Dead charity is predicable of those 
whose faith is dead, since the quality of charity depends on 



248 LIFE AND WRITINGS' OF 

the quality of faith. Faith is dead in all who are without 
works, and in those who believe not in God, but in living 
and dead men, and worship idols as if they were holy in 
themselves, after the practice of the old Gentiles. 

Chapter VIII. is devoted to the vexed question of Free- 
Determination, or Free- Will. The doctrines of the Church, 
as commonly held, are first stated, and then the New Church 
doctrine on the question is explained under the following 
heads: — The two trees in the garden of Eden, one of life, 
and the other of the knowledge of good and evil, signify the 
free-will which man enjoys in respect to spiritual things. 
Man is not life, but a recipient of life from God. Man, 
during his abode in the world, is held in the midst between 
heaven and hell, and thus in a spiritual equilibrium, which 
constitutes free will. 

From the permission of evil, which every man experiences 
in his internal man, it is evident that man has free-will in 
spiritual things. Without free-will in spiritual things, the 
Word would not be of any use, consequently the Church 
would be a nonenity. Without free-will in spiritual things, 
man would have nothing which would enable him to conjoin 
himself by reciprocation with the Lord; and consequently 
there would be no imputation, but mere predestination, 
which is detestable. Without free-will in spiritual things, 
God would be chargeable as the cause of evil. Every 
spiritual principle of the Church that is admitted and 
received in freedom, remains, but not otherwise. The 
human will and understanding enjoy this free-will; but the 
commission of evil, both in the spiritual and natural worlds, 
is restrained by laws, or else society in both would perish. 
If men were destitute of free-will in spiritual things, it would 
be possible for all men throughout the whole world, in a 
single day, to be induced to believe in the Lord ; but this 
would be in vain, because nothing remains with man which 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 249 

is not freely received. Miracles are not performed at the 
present day because they deprive man of free-will. 

Chapter IX. treats of Repentance. It is shown, in the 
first place, that repentance is the first constituent of the 
Church in man, and that in proportion as a man practices 
it, his sins are removed; and as they are removed, they are 
forgiven or remitted. Contrition, in the sense of a mere 
lip-confession of being a sinner, and of being involved in the 
guilt of Adam, without self-examination, is not repentance. 
Every man is born with a propensity to evils of all kinds, 
and unless he remove them, in part, by repentance, he 
remains in them ; and whoever remains in them can not be 
saved. The knowledge of sin, and the discovery of some 
particular sin in one's self, is the beginning of repentance. 
Actual repentance consists in a man's examining himself, 
knowing and acknowledging his sins, supplicating the Lord, 
and beginning a new life. True repentance consists in a 
man's examining not only the actions of his life, but also 
the intentions of his will. Those also do the work of repent- 
ance, who, though they do not examine themselves, abstain 
from evils because they are sins; and this kind of repentance 
is done by those who perform works of charity from a 
religious motive. In repentance, confession ought to be 
made before the Lord God the Saviour, and at the same 
time supplication for help, and power to resist evils. Actual 
repentance is an easy duty to those who occasionally practice 
it, but it meets with violent opposition from those who never 
practiced it. He that never did the work of repentance, 
and never looked into, and examined, himself, comes at last 
not to know the nature either of damnatory evil or saving 
good. 

Chapter X. describes the nature of Keformation and 
Regeneration. Unless a man be born again, and, as it 
were, created anew, he can not enter into the kingdom 
L* 



250 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

of God. This new birth, or creation, is effected by the Lord 
alone, through the medium of charity and faith, during 
man's cooperation. Since all are redeemed, all have a 
capacity to be regenerated, every one according to his state. 
The several stages of man's regeneration answer to his 
natural conception, gestation in the womb, birth, and educa- 
tion. The first act of the new birth, which is an act of the 
understanding, is called reformation; and the second, which 
is an act of the will, and thence of the understanding, is 
called regeneration. The internal man is first to be reformed, 
and by it the external, and thus the man is regenerated. 
When this takes place, there arises a combat between the 
internal and external man, and then whichever conquers 
has dominion over the other. The regenerate man has a 
new will and understanding. A regenerate man is in com- 
munion with the angels of heaven, and an unregenerate 
man is in communion with the spirits of hell. In proportion 
as a man is regenerated, his sins are removed; and this 
removal is what is meant by remission of sins. Regeneration 
can not be effected without free-will in spiritual things. 
Regeneration is not attainable without truths by which faith 
is formed, and with which charity conjoins itself. 

Chapter XL is devoted to a description of what imputation 
is, and what it is not. It is shown that imputation, and the 
faith of the present church, which alone is said to justify, 
are a one. The imputation which belongs to the faith of the 
present time is two fold, the one part relating to the merit 
of Christ, and the other to salvation as its consequence. 
The faith which is imputative of the merit and righteousness 
of Christ the Redeemer, first took its rise from, the decrees 
of the Council of Nice, concerning three divine persons from 
eternity; and, from that time to the present, has been 
received by the whole Christian world. Faith imputative 
of the merit of Christ, was not known in the Apostolic 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 251 

Church, which preceded the Council of Nice, and is neither 
declared nor signified in any part of the Word. An impu- 
tation of the merits and righteousness of Christ is impossible. 
There is such a thing as imputation, but then it is an 
imputation of good and evil, and at the same time of faith. 
The faith and imputation of the New Church can not be 
together with the faith and imputation of the former Church ; 
and, in case they w T ere together, such a collision and conflict 
would ensue, that every principle of the Church in man 
would perish. The Lord imputes good to every man, and 
hell imputes evil to every man. Faith, with whatever 
principle it conjoins itself, passes sentence accordingly; if a 
true faith conjoins itself with goodness, the sentence is for 
eternal life, but if faith conjoins itself with evil, the sentence 
is for eternal death. Thought is imputed to no one, but will. 
Chapter XII. is a luminous exposition of the uses of Bap- 
tism. Without a knowledge of the spiritual sense of the 
Word, it is shown no one can know what the two sacraments, 
Baptism and the Holy Supper, involve and effect. The 
washing which is called baptism, signifies spiritual washing, 
which is a purification from evils and falses, and thus 
regeneration. As circumcision of the heart was represented 
by circumcision of the foreskin, baptism was instituted in 
lieu of it, to the end that an internal Church might succeed 
the external, in which all and everything was a figure of the 
internal Church. The first use of baptism is introduction 
into the Christian Church, and at the same time insertion 
among Christians in the spiritual world. The second use 
of baptism is, that the Christian may know and acknowledge 
the Lord Jesus Christ the Kedeemer and Saviour, and may 
follow Him. The third and final use of baptism is, that 
man may be regenerated. By the baptism of John, a way 
was prepared that Jehovah the Lord might come down into 
the world, and accomplish the work of redemption. 



252 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

Chapter XIII. is taken up with a like description of the 
uses of the Holy Supper. It is shown that it is impossible 
for any one, without an acquaintance with the correspond- 
ences of natural things with spiritual, to know the uses and 
benefits of the Holy Supper. An acquaintance with corre- 
spondences serves to discover the signification of the Lord's 
flesh and blood, and that the bread and wine signify the 
same; namely, that the Lord's flesh and the bread signify 
the divine good of His love, and likewise all the good 
of charity, and that His blood and the wine signify the 
divine truth of His wisdom, and likewise all the truth 
of faith, and that to eat signifies to appropriate. By under- 
standing this, it may clearly be comprehended, that the 
Holy Supper contains, both universally and particularly, all 
things of the Church, and all things of heaven. In the 
Holy Supper the Lord is entirely present, with the whole 
of His redemption. The Lord is present, and opens heaven 
to those who approach the Holy Supper worthily; and He 
is also present with those who approach it unworthily, but 
does not open heaven to them ; consequently, as baptism is 
an introduction into the Church, so the Holy Supper is an 
introduction into heaven. Those approach the Holy Supper 
worthily, who are under the influence of faith toward the 
Lord, and of charity toward their neighbor, thus, who are 
regenerate. Those who approach the Holy Supper worthily, 
are in the Lord, and He in them ; consequently, conjunction 
with the Lord is effected by the Holy Supper. The Holy 
Supper is, to the worthy receivers, as a signing and sealing 
that they are sons of God. 

Chapter XIV., concluding the doctrinal portion of the 
work, describes the consummation of the age, the coming 
of the Lord, and the new heaven and the New Church. 
The consummation of the age is the last time or end of the 
Church. The present day is the last time of the Christian 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 253 

Church, which the Lord foretold and described in the 
Gospels, and in the Revelation. This last time of the 
Christian Church, is the very night in which the former 
Churches have set. After this night, morning succeeds; and 
the coming of the Lord is this morning. The coming of the 
Lord is not a coming to destroy the visible heaven and the 
habitable earth, and to create a new heaven and a new 
earth, according to the opinions which many, from not 
understanding the spiritual sense of the Word, have hitherto 
entertained. This, which is the second coming of the Lord, 
is for the sake of separating the evil from the good, that 
those who have believed and who do believe in Him, may 
be saved; and that there may be formed of them a new 
angelic heaven, and a New Church on earth; and without 
this coming no flesh could be saved. This second coming 
of the Lord is not a coming in person, but in the Word, 
which is from Him, and is Himself. This second coming 
of the Lord is effected by the instrumentality of a man, 
before whom He has manifested Himself in person, and 
whom He has filled with His spirit, to teach from Him the 
doctrines of the New Church by means of the Word. This 
is meant by the new heaven and the new earth, and the 
New Jerusalem descending out of heaven, spoken of in the 
Revelation. This New Church is the crown of all the 
Churches which have existed, to this time, on the earth. 

On all these subjects Swedenborg discourses at length, and 
in a style which, for its combined simplicity and purity, we 
believe, is unmatched in theological literature. Wilkinson ' 
says truly of the volume, that, " viewed as a digest, it shows 
a presence of mind, an administration of materials, and a 
faculty of handling, of an extraordinary kind. There is old 
age in it in the sense of ripeness. If the intellectualist 
misses there somewhat of the range of discourse, it is com- 
pensated by a certain triteness of wisdom. As a polemic, 



254 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

not only against the errors of the Churches, but against the 
evil lives and self-excusings of Christians, the work is unri* 
valed. The criticisms of doctrine, with which it abounds, 
are masterly in the extreme; and were it compared with 
any similar body of theology, we feel no doubt that the 
palm of coherency, vigor, and comprehensiveness, would 
easily fall to Swedenborg, upon the verdict of judges of 
whatever Church." 

We have said nothing of the seventy-six memorable rela- 
tions strewn through the pages of the "True Christian 
Religion," because the limits to which we are confined forbid 
anything approaching to an adequate description of them. 
They are a great trouble to new readers of Swedenborg, and 
many who love and delight in the doctrinal teachings of the 
work, pass over, unread, the memorable relations, and try 
not to think of them. But this is only for a time. They 
are only strange and incomprehensible because the princi- 
ples upon which they are written are not apprehended. The 
Indian king, who was told that in northern lands water 
became solid, so that his elephants might walk on it, laughed, 
and was an unbeliever. But, had the law or principle by 
which water becomes ice, been made plain to him, his 
laughter and his unbelief would have ceased. So it is with 
those who are shocked with Swedenborg's relations of things 
heard and seen in the spiritual world. Let but the great 
law of correspondence be understood, and the most marvelous 
of the relations straightway attain an interest and reality, 
which none but those who have studied them under the 
bright light of correspondences can understand, or easily 
believe possible. A memorable relation, which was to the 
writer of this, at one time, a thing to cause pity for the man 
that wrote it, is now the pleasant and practical study of a 
Sunday afternoon. He knows that his experience in this 
respect is paralleled by that of most JNewchurchmen. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 255 

Count Hopken, in a letter to General Tuxen, says, " I 
once represented, in rather a serious manner, to this venera- 
ble man, (Swedenborg), that I thought he would do better 
not to mix his beautiful writings with so many memorable 
relations of things heard and seen in the spiritual world, 
concerning the states of men after death, — of which igno- 
rance makes a jest and derision. But he answered me, that 
this did not depend on him ; that he was too old to sport 
with spiritual things, and too much concerned for his eternal 
happiness to give into foolish notions ; assuring me, on his 
hopes of salvation, that no imagination produced in him his 
revelations, which were true, and derived from what he had 
heard and seen." 

" The True Christian Religion" was the last work Sweden- 
borg published; it was a worthy conclusion of his grand 
labors. Among his papers, at his decease, was found an in- 
complete "Coronis" or Appendix to the work. This has 
been translated and published, and contains an elucidation 
of several interesting points. 



256 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Anecdotes and Traits of Character, 

Swedenborg arrived in London, from Amsterdam, in 
August, 1771, and took up his abode in lodgings lie had be- 
fore occupied in the house of Shearsmith, a peruke maker, at 
26 Great Bath street, Cold Bath fields. From Shearsmith 
we learn several interesting items of intelligence regarding 
Swedenborg's habits and mode of life. 

The dress that he generally wore when he went out to 
visit, was a suit of black velvet, (made after an old fashion,) 
a pair of long ruffles, a curiously hilted sword, and a gold- 
headed cane. In his later years he became less and less 
attentive to the concerns of the world. When walking 
abroad, he seemed to be engaged in spiritual communion, 
and took little notice of things and people in the streets. 
When he went out in Stockholm, without the observation of 
his domestics, some singularity in his dress would often be- 
tray his abstraction. Once when he dined with Robsahm's 
father, he appeared with one shoe-buckle of plain silver, and 
the other set with precious stones, — greatly to the amusement 
of some ladies of the party. When he lodged with Berg- 
strom, he usually walked out after breakfast, dressed neatly 
in velvet, and made a good appearance. In Sweden his 
dress was simple, but neat and convenient : during winter, 
he was clad in a garment of reindeer skins ; and, in summer, 
in a study gown : " both well worn, as became a philoso- 
pher," according to Robsahm. Mr. Servante was one of 
the earliest and most affectionate receivers of New Church 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 257 

doctrine. Before he received the truths of the New Church, 
he was once passing along St. John's street, London, 
when he met an old gentleman, of a dignified and most 
venerable appearance, whose deeply thoughtful, yet mildly 
expressive countenance, added to something very unusual in 
his general air, attracted his attention very forcibly. He 
turned round, therefore, to take another view of the stranger, 
who also turned around and looked at him. This was Swe- 
denborg ; but it was not until some years afterward, on see- 
ing his portrait, that he became aware that the dignified and 
venerable old gentleman was the author of those works he 
now so sincerely loved, and so earnestly studied. 

In person, Swedenborg was about 5 feet 9 inches high, 
rather thin, and of a brown complexion. His eyes were of 
a brownish grey, nearly hazel, and rather small. He had 
always a cheerful smile upon his countenance. When Col- 
lin visited him, he was thin and pale, but still retained traces 
of beauty, and had something very pleasing in his physiog- 
nomy, and a dignity in his erect stature. Ab Indagine tells 
us his eyes were always smiling ; and Robsahm, that his 
" countenance was always illuminated by the light of his 
uncommon genius." His manners were those of a noble- 
man and gentleman of the last century. He was somewhat 
reserved, but complaisant ; accessible to all, and had some- 
thing very loving and taking in his demeanor. Person- 
ally, he left good impressions behind him wherever he 



He did not understand the English language sufficiently 
well to hold a running conversation in it ; and moreover he 
had an impediment in his speech. He was well acquainted, 
however, with the principal modern languages, and, of 
course, was thoroughly familiar with Greek and Latin, and 
had a sufficient knowledge of Hebrew. All authorities 
agree that his speech, though not facile, was impressive. 

22 * 



258 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

He spoke with deliberation, and when his voice was heard, 
it was a signal for silence in others, while the slowness of his 
delivery increased the curiosity of the listeners. He entered 
into no disputes on matters of religion, but when obliged to 
defend himself, he did it mildly and briefly ; and if any one 
insisted upon argument, and became warm against him, he 
retired, with a recommendation to them to read his writings. 
One day, when Mr. Cookworthy, a member of the Society of 
Friends, was with Swedenborg in his lodging, a person 
present objected to something he said, and argued the point 
in his own way ; but Swedenborg only replied, " I receive 
information from the angels on such things." One day, when 
dining with some Swedish clergy in London, a polemic tried 
to controvert the doctrine concerning the Lord, and the na- 
ture of our duty to Him ; when, according to Mr. Burkhardt, 
" Swedenborg overthrew the tenets of his opponent, who ap- 
peared but a child to him in knowledge." 

Swedenborg was practically a vegetarian. Shearsmith 
said he sometimes ate a few eels, and his servant informs us 
that he once had some pigeon pie ; but his usual diet was 
bread and butter, milk and coffee, almonds and raisins, veg- 
etables, biscuits, cakes, and gingerbread. The gingerbread 
he used to take out with him into the area of Cold Bath 
square, (now covered with houses,) and distribute it among 
the children as they played around him. He was a water- 
drinker, but occasionally, when in company, drank one or 
two glasses of wine, but never more. He took no supper. 
Of coffee he was a great drinker, which he took very sweet, 
and without milk. At his house in Stockholm, he had a fire 
during winter almost constantly in his study, at which he 
made his own coffee and drank it often, both during the day 
and in the night. 

From the commencement of his illumination, Swedenborg 
was very particular as to his diet ; and his Diary contains 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 2f>9 

many references to his food, and to the spiritual association 
which various kinds of nutriment induced. In one place we 
read under the heading of "the Stink of Intemperance," 
" One evening I took a great meal of milk and bread, more 
than the spirits considered good for me. On this occasion 
they dwelt upon intemperance, and accused me of it." In- 
deed, on the first opening of his spiritual sight, in London, 
in 1743, when being very hungry from much exercise, he ate 
with great appetite, the spiritual stranger who appeared, sa- 
luted him with the words, " Eat not so much." In his trea- 
tise on Heaven and Hell, n. 299, he writes : " It has also 
been granted me to know the origin of the anxiety, grief of 
mind, and interior sadness, called melancholy, with which 
man is afflicted. There are certain spirits who are not yet in 
conjunction with hell, being yet in their first state, who love 
undigested and malignant substances, such as food when it 
lies corrupting in the stomach. They consequently are pre- 
sent where such substances are to be found in man, because 
these are delightful to them ; and they there converse with 
one another from their own evil . affection. The affection 
contained in their discourse thence enters the man by influx ; 
and if it is opposed to the man's affection, he experiences 
melancholy, sadness, and anxiety ; whereas if it agrees with 
his affection, he becomes gay and cheerful. Hence was made 
manifest to me the origin of the persuasion entertained by 
some who do not know what conscience is, by reason that 
they have none, when they attribute its pangs to a disordered 
state of the stomach." Of the killing and eating the flesh 
of animals, he writes thus in the Arcana Coelestia, n. 1002. 
" Eating the flesh of animals, considered in itself, is some- 
thing profane ; for the people of the most ancient time on 
no account ate the flesh of any beast or fowl, but only grain, 
especially bread made of wheat, also the fruits of trees, 
pulse, milk, and what is produced from milk, as butter. To 



260 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

kill animals and to eat their flesh, was to them unlawful, and 
seemed as something bestial ; and they were content with the 
uses and services which they rendered, as appears also from 
Genesis i. 29, 30. But in succeeding times, when man be- 
gan to grow fierce as a beast, yea fiercer, then first they began 
to kill animals, and to eat their flesh. And because man 
was such, this was permitted, and at this day also is per- 
mitted ; and so far as man does it from conscience, so far is 
it lawful, for his conscience is formed of all those things 
which he thinks to be true, and so thinks to be lawful : 
wherefore also, at this day, no one is by any means condemned 
for this, that he eats flesh." 

Swedenborg took snuff, as was the custom in his day. 
Some of his manuscripts yet bear traces of the dingy powder. 

Shearsmith gives the same account of Swedenborg's habits 
of sleep, as his gardener at Stockholm. He had no regard 
for times and seasons, days or nights, only taking rest as he 
felt disposed. This was naturally to be expected, consider- 
ing the peculiarities of his seership. At first, Shearsmith 
was greatly alarmed, by reason of his talking day and night. 
Sometimes he would be writing, and then he would be, as it 
were, holding a conversation with several persons. But as 
Swedenborg spoke in a language Shearsmith did not under- 
stand, he could make nothing of it. Shearsmith was never- 
theless well pleased with his lodger. His servant told Mr. 
Peckitt, after Swedenborg's death, that " he was a good-na- 
tured man, and that he was a blessing to the house, for they 
had harmony and good business whilst he was with them." 
A short time before his death, he lay for some weeks in a 
trance, without any sustenance. 

Swedenborg's pension preserved him from all pecuniary 
cares. Yet in his Diary we read : " I have now been for 
thirty-three months in a state in which my mind is withdrawn 
from bodily affairs, and hence can be present in the societies 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 261 

of the spiritual and celestial. Yet whenever I am intent 
upon worldly matters, or have cares and desires about 
money, (such as caused me to write a letter to-day,) I lapse 
into a bodily state ; and the spirits, as they inform me, can- 
not speak with me, but say they are in a manner absent. 
This shows me that spirits cannot speak with a man who 
dwells upon worldly and bodily cares ; for the things of his 
body draw down his ideas, and drown them in the body. — 
March 4, 1748." This experience is worthy of record. 
Most of us, in our own way, know the truth of it, from heart 
experience. Whatever his motives were, he would receive 
back no proceeds from the sale of his theological works, but 
dedicated the whole to religious subscriptions. To beggars 
he seldom gave anything. In his writings, he in several 
places protests against the sham charity which satisfies itself 
by mere alms-giving. He tells us that habitual beggars lead 
vicious and impious lives, and that to give them money is 
rather to curse than to bless them. Swedenborg did not lend 
money ; for that, he said, is the way to lose it ; besides, as he 
remarks, he required, it nearly all to pay the expenses of his 
traveling and printing. 

In his later years, Swedenborg had no library but his 
Bible, in various editions, and his own manuscripts. What 
need had he of the books of men, when he knew the 
heavens, — and the glorified authors of earth, in states of 
wisdom they never dreamed of here? 

Swedenborg seldom went to church; for, as he said, he 
"had no peace in the church, on account of spirits, who 
contradicted what the preacher said, especially when he 
spoke of Three Persons in the Godhead, which amounted in 
reality to three Gods." 

Swedenborg's long and arduous labors on earth were now 
ended. Let us approach his death-bed with reverence, and 
observe how a good man can die. 



262 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

Last Days on Earth, 

On Christmas eve, 1771, a stroke of apoplexy deprived 
Swedenborg of his speech, and lamed one side. He lay 
afterwards in a lethargic state for more than three weeks, 
taking no sustenance beyond a little tea without milk, and 
cold water occasionally, and once a little currant jelly. At 
the end of that time, he recovered his speech and health 
somewhat, and ate and drank as usual. Mr. Hartley and 
Dr. Messiter at this time visited him, and asking him if he 
was comforted with the society of angels, as before, he 
answered that he was. They then asked him to declare 
whether all that he had written was strictly true, or whether 
any part or parts were to be excepted. "I have written," 
answered Swedenborg, with a degree of warmth, "nothing 
but the truth, as you will have more and more confirmed to 
you all the days of your life, provided you keep close to the 
Lord, and faithfully serve Him alone, by shunning evils 
of all kinds as sins against Him, and diligently searching 
His Word, which, from beginning to end, bears incontestable 
witness to the truth of the doctrines I have delivered to the 
world." 

At this time Swedenborg seemed to love privacy, and saw 
but little company. His old friend, Springer, the Swedish 
Consul in London, called upon him a week or two before 
his decease. Springer asked him when he believed that the 
New Jerusalem, or the New Church of the Lord, would be 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 263 

manifested, and if this manifestation would take place in 
the four quarters of the world. Swedenborg replied: "No 
mortal can declare the time, no, not even the celestial 
angels; it is known solely to the Lord. Head the Revela- 
tion, chapter xxi. 2, and Zechariah, chapter xiv. 9, and you 
will find that it is not to be doubted that the New Jerusalem, 
mentioned in the Apocalypse, which denotes a new and 
purer state of the Christian Church, than has hitherto 
existed, will manifest itself to all the earth." 

About this time, says Springer, Swedenborg told him that 
his spiritual sight was withdrawn, after he had been favored 
with it for so long a course of years. This, of which the 
world knew nothing, and for which it cared nothing, it was 
the greatest affliction to him to lose. He could not endure 
the blindness, but cried out repeatedly, "O my God! hast 
thou then forsaken thy servant at last?" He continued for 
several days in this condition, but it was the last of his 
trials : he recovered his precious sight, and was happy. 

About this time he wrote a note, in Latin, to the Rev. 
John Wesley, to the following effect : — 

"Great Bath Street, Cold Bath Fields, February, 1772. 
" Sir, — I have been informed, in the world of spirits, that 
you have a strong desire to converse with me. I shall be 
happy to see you, if you will favor me with a visit. 

"I am, sir, your humble servant, 
" Emanuel Swedenborg." 

"When the note was handed to Mr. Wesley, he was in 
company with some of his preachers, arranging their preach- 
ing circuits for the year. Wesley read the note aloud, and 
frankly confessed that he had been strongly actuated by a 
desire to meet Swedenborg, but he had revealed his wish to 
no one. He wrote for answer, that he was then occupied in 
preparing for a six months' journey, but would wait upon 



264 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

Swedenborg on his return to London. Swedenborg, in reply, 
stated that the proposed visit would be too late, as he should 
go into the world of spirits on the 29th day of the next 
month, (March,) never more to return. Wesley did not 
call, and they never met. Had he been wise, he would, in 
spite of engagements, have embraced this opportunity of con- 
versing with that wonderful man, after an invitation of such 
a character. Had they met, Methodism might have been a 
different thing from what it is. But let us believe that all 
such seeming accidents are overruled for the best. 

The authority for this anecdote is the Kev. Samuel Smith, 
a Methodist preacher, who was present when Wesley re- 
ceived Swedenborg's letter. It excited his curiosity to know 
something of the writings of so remarkable a man ; and the 
result was, a firm conviction of the rationality and truth of 
the heavenly doctrine promulgated in them, and a zealous 
activity in their diffusion, throughout the remainder of his 
life. 

Mr. Bergstrom, the landlord of the King's Arms tavern 
in Wellclose square, at whose house Swedenborg had once 
lodged, called to see him in his last days. Swedenborg told 
him, that since it had pleased the Lord to take away the use 
of his arm by palsy, his body was good for nothing but to 
be put under ground. Mr. Bergstrom asked him whether 
he would receive the Sacrament. Somebody present at the 
time proposed sending for the Rev. Mr. Mathesius, a minis- 
ter of the Swedish Church. Swedenborg at once declined 
having that gentleman, for he had sent abroad a report that 
Swedenborg was out of his senses. (Mathesius himself, in 
later years, became deranged.) The Rev. Arvid Ferelius, 
another Swedish clergyman, with whom Swedenborg was on 
the best terms, and who had visited him frequently in his 
illness, was then sent for. Ferelius observed to him, that 
" as many persons thought he had endeavored only to make 



EMANUEL SWEDENBOKG. 265 

himself a name, or acquire celebrity in the world, by the 
publication of his new theological system, he should now be 
ready, in order to show justice to the world, to recant either 
the whole or a part of what he had written, since he had 
now nothing more to expect from the world which he was so 
soon to leave forever." Upon hearing these words, Swe- 
denborg raised himself half upright in his bed, and placing 
his sound hand upon his breast, said, with great zeal and 
emphasis, "As true as you see me before you, so true is every- 
thing which I have written. I could say more, were I per- 
mitted. "When you come into eternity, you will see all things 
as I have stated and described them ; and we shall have 
much discourse about them with each other." Ferelius then 
asked him if he would take the Lord's Holy Supper. He 
replied, "You mean well, but I, being a member of the 
other world, do not need it. However, to show the connec- 
tion and union between the church in heaven and the church 
on earth, I will gladly take it." He then asked Ferelius if 
he had read his views on the Sacrament. Before adminis- 
tering the Sacrament, Ferelius inquired whether he confessed 
himself to be a sinner. " Certainly," said Swedenborg, " so 
long as I carry about with me this sinful body." With deep 
and affecting devotion, with folded hands, and with his head 
uncovered, he confessed his own unworthiness, and received 
the Holy Supper. He then presented Ferelius with a copy 
of his Arcana Coelestia, expressing his gratitude to him for 
his kind attentions. 

He knew that his end was near. He told the people of 
the house on what day he should die, and Shearsmith's 
servant remarked, "he was as pleased as I should have been, 
if I was going to have a holiday, or going to some merry- 
making." 

His faculties were clear to the last. On Sunday, the 29th 
day of March, 1772, hearing the clock strike, he asked his 
23 M 



266 LIFE AND WHITINGS OF 

landlady and her maid, who were both sitting at his bed-side, 
what o'clock it was ; and upon being answered it was five 
o'clock, he said, " It is well ; I thank you ; God bless you ;" 
and in a little moment after, he gently departed. He was 
then 84 years, 8 weeks, and five days, old. 

His body was taken to the undertaker's, where it lay in 
state ; and then was, on the 5th day of April, deposited in 
three coffins, in the vault of the Swedish Church, in Prince's 
square, Radcliffe Highway, with all the ceremonies of the 
Lutheran faith, — the service being performed by the Rev. 
Arvid Ferelius. 

There the body still lies. No stone, or inscription marks 
the spot. Swedenborg of all men, least requires monumen- 
tal commemoration. Every year enshrines his memory in 
increasing numbers of grateful hearts ; — grateful to him, as 
a medium, whereby the Infinite Wisdom and Goodness might 
reach its end in blessing mankind by the advent of spiritual 
truth, and leading them within the gates of the Holy City, 
New Jerusalem. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 267 



CHAPTER XXX. 

Progress of the New Church, 

Swedenborg widely distributed his works during his 
lifetime, presenting copies to libraries and to distinguished 
and learned persons everywhere. With the Latin edition 
of his "Arcana Coelestia," he issued an English version of 
volumes I. and II., in numbers, at a very cheap rate. None 
of his other works were translated into English in his life- 
time, with the exception of his little treatise "On the inter- 
course of the Soul and the Body." This work was translated 
by his attached friend, William Cookworthy. Six years 
after Swedenborg's death, in 1778, " Heaven and Hell" was 
published in English by James Phillips, the Quaker book- 
seller in George Yard, Lombard street, London. William 
Cookworthy was the translator of this work also, and de- 
frayed the cost of the whole edition. The Eev. Thomas 
Hartley revised the translation, and wrote for it an excellent 
preface, which to this day forms a useful introduction to the 
work. Book after book was translated by other hands ; and 
the Rev. John Clowes, Hector of St. John's, Manchester, 
having embraced the doctrines of the New Jerusalem, set 
about the work of translation in earnest, and gave to the 
world an excellent and accurate English version of the 
"Arcana Coelestia" in thirteen volumes. In 1810, the " So- 
ciety for Printing and Publishing the Writings of the Hon. 
Emanuel Swedenborg" was formed, and from that time to 
this has perseveringly pursued its useful labors, sustained by 



268 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

the contribution of friends. In 1854 a gentleman munifi- 
cently presented the Society with £3000 to purchase an in- 
dependent house of publication, and the result was its es- 
tablishment in a handsome edifice in Bloomsbury street, 
Oxford street, London. During the past year, the " Swe- 
denborg Society" has reduced the price of its publications 
one third; and now, quality of workmanship considered, 
there are no cheaper books in England. It is desirable that 
works filled with such heavenly thoughts, and capable 
of so great use and service, should have no bar whatever to 
a free and wide diffusion. 

In the United States of America several editions of Swe- 
denborg's works have been published, and their circulation 
has been considerably greater than in England. In New 
York has recently been established an "American Sweden- 
borg Printing and Publishing Society," which, in the few 
years of its existence, in the public spirit of its management, 
and the excellence and beauty of its editions, promises to 
rival and excel its English predecessor. But in such labors 
of love it is a happiness to be surpassed. 

In France, translations of various works of Swedenborg 
have been executed from time to time. M. Le Boys Des 
Guays, of St. Am and, Cher, has been, however, the chief 
laborer in this field. Sustained by some kind friends, but, 
most of all, by his own ardent perseverance, the Lord's gift, 
he has executed a uniform translation of the whole of Swe- 
denborg's published theological works. In France, the sale 
of these works is as yet small, but the dawning of a better 
day is looked for with confiding faith. 

In Germany, Dr. Tafel, librarian to the University of 
Tubingen, has been the principal worker in the translation 
and diffusion of Swedenborg's writings. More than this, he 
has reprinted many of his works in the original Latin, and 
has been the means of the publication of Swedenborg's 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 269 

Adversaria and Diarium, from his MSS., thus securing 
those invaluable records of spiritual experience from all 
danger of loss. In Germany, as in France, the readers 
of Swedenborg, as compared with those in England and 
America, are yet few. In Sweden but little interest, as 
yet, is taken in his writings. His countrymen seem proud 
of him, principally on account of his fame abroad. From 
all that is observed, we are inclined to conclude that Swe- 
denborg can have a fair hearing only in nations where 
thought and speech are alike free. In the " True Christian 
Religion," speaking of the "noble English nation," he says: 
"The English are in the center of all Christians, because 
possessed of interior intellectual light, derived from the 
liberty of speaking and writing; while nations, who do not 
possess such liberty, have this light presented in a confused 
manner, for it wants an outlet." He also compares free 
nations, in relation to the Church and theology, to eagles 
which raise themselves to any height; whilst nations not 
free are like tame swans in a river. Free nations are also 
like stags, which range with full license through the plains, 
groves, and forests; whereas nations not free are like deer 
enclosed in parks, kept for some prince's pleasure. 

It will have been observed, in the course of our narrative, 
that Swedenborg made no attempt to gather the receivers 
of the doctrines he was sent to promulgate, into a separate 
body or sect. When he was attacked by Dr. Ekebom, he 
defended himself from the Word, the Formula Concordise, 
and the Confessions of the Lutheran Church. When Doc- 
tors Beyer and Rosen were charged with heresy, he counseled 
a like defense. His friends, the Rev. Thomas Hartley, 
rector of Winwick, in Northamptonshire, and William 
Cookworthy, a distinguished minister in the Society of 
Friends, both remained in their old connections until the 
time of their death, although perfectly confirmed in the 



270 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

doctrines of the New Church. Later, the Rev. John Clowes 
spent a long life in the Church of England, ministering to a 
large and affectionate congregation, while alike by tongue 
and pen he spread abroad the pure faith of the New Jerusa- 
lem, — he, with some others, believing that the new doctrines 
would quietly displace the old, and that no external separa- 
tion was called for. Others, however, thought differently, 
and on June 1st, 1788, in Great East Cheap, London, 
was inaugurated an external organization, calling itself the 
New Church. One after another, societies in England and 
Scotland have been formed for the public worship of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, until in the present year there exist some 
sixty or seventy such associations. They are most numerous 
in Lancashire. These societies are represented in an annual 
conference, which attends to the general business of the 
Church, and ordains ministers. It has, moreover, prepared 
a liturgy and book of hymns, and from various grants 
of money which have been made to it, supports schools in 
many districts. The conference also possesses, as its organ, 
a monthly magazine, called the "Intellectual Repository, or 
New Jerusalem Magazine." The societies of which this 
conference is composed, possess complete liberty, and manage 
their own affairs without interference. 

In America matters are much the same as in England. 
There is a general convention, corresponding to the English 
conference. It also has its organ in a monthly journal, the 
" New Jerusalem Magazine," published in Boston. In addi- 
tion, it has lately started a weekly newspaper, "The New 
Jerusalem Messenger," published in New York. Professor 
Bush, of New York, likewise edits a monthly magazine with 
distinguished ability, entitled the "New Church Repository." 
In America the New Church has made considerably greater 
visible progress than in England, particularly in the state 
of Massachusetts. 



EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 271 

But it is ever to be remembered that the New Church is 
a Dispensation and not a Sect ; and is to be measured by 
the goodness and truth in the world, and not by the lip- 
confession of a creed. The Lord God Almighty, the Creator 
of heaven and earth, took unto Himself an arm of flesh, in 
assuming our humanity, and through it has come near to 
men that He might redeem them from all their foes. Like 
all Divine works, this has been gradual. The first Christian 
Church was founded ; but, as the centuries glided away, it 
gradually lost its first purity and innocence, forgot the sim- 
plest teachings of its Founder, and fell into evil states, " such 
as were not since the beginning of the world, no, nor ever 
shall be." But the Lord " shortened those days ; else, no 
flesh had been saved," and He chose Swedenborg as His 
servant to bear testimony to the world how such things were, 
and how, in executing the Last Judgment, He cast down 
the hells, and swept from the souls of men the myriads of 
evil spirits which hung like a pall of death around them. 
Writing in 1771, Swedenborg says : " The reduction of the 
heavens and the hells to order is not yet accomplished, but 
has continued in its process since the day of the Last Judg- 
ment until now, and still continues." — T. C. JR., n. 123. 
We are beginning to realize the effects of these great changes. 
In the times in which we live, the nations feel the breath of 
a new Spring upon their spirits, but faintly conceive the 
Divine Source from which the inspiration comes. All speak 
of the new spirit which animates men, and history is in vain 
appealed to for its cause. History contains no parallel to 
the things which now are, and the things which are to come. 
The world has entered upon a new course. The Lord has 
said : " Behold I make all things new." And in the days 
which are to come, the Divine will shall be done on earth as 
in heaven ; for the promise of the New Jerusalem is, " Be- 
hold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell 



272 EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 

with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself 
shall be with them, and be their God ; and the nations of 
them that are saved shall wall in the light of it ; and there 
shall be no night there. ... I Jesus have sent mine 
angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am 
the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and 
morning star. The Spirit and the Bride say, Come ; and 
let him that heareth say, Come ; and let him that is athirst 
come ; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life 
freely. . . Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Amen." 



" There are five classes of those who read my writings. 
The first reject them entirely, because they are in another 
persuasion, or because they are in no faith. The second 
receive them as scientifics, or as objects of mere curiosity. 
The third receive them intellectually, and are in some meas- 
ure pleased with them, but whenever they require an appli- 
cation to regulate their lives, they remain where they were 
before. The fourth receive them in a persuasive manner, 
and are thereby led, in a certain degree, to amend their lives 
and perform uses. The fifth receive them with delight, and 
confirm them in their lives." — JSwedenborg's Spiritual Diary 
2955. 



